Discovering a passion for theatre was not initially part of Jaya Sinha’s plan when she applied to attend Western’s School for Advanced Studies in the Arts and Humanities (SASAH). The fourth-year student initially arrived at Western to pursue a degree in film studies, however, chance encounters along the way changed her trajectory, and she has not looked back.
Sinha is Western’s 2025-26 student writer-in-residence.
Established in 2013, Western’s student writer-in-residence program fosters exchange among aspiring student writers and contributes to the culture of creativity across campus, within the London, Ont. community and across literary genres, media and technologies. The role is tailor-made for someone like Sinha, who described herself as insatiable and “excited by all kinds of art.”
During her second year, while pursuing a double major in English and SASAH, a friend encouraged Sinha to get involved with Theatre Western’s Purple Shorts, an annual student-written short play festival. She applied to direct one of the productions and was thrilled by the experience. Inspired, she submitted her own work to the festival the following year.
Sinha has continued to immerse herself in campus arts well beyond the classroom. Through Theatre Western, she found a creative community and discovered that stage life suited her. She applied to assistant direct the 2024 campus production of Legally Blonde and loved every moment. That fall, she directed Cabaret – a “life-changing experience,” she said. The show’s challenging material resonated deeply with younger audiences and it became one of her most meaningful projects at Western.
Theatre Western is brimming with talent and script submissions and is a great way to get involved in a creative outlet on campus, Sinha said.
“If I got to live Cabaret over and over again in my life, I would probably be happier than most people. Making theatre is really important to me and that’s what I’m planning on doing,” she says.
Supporting emerging artists, encouraging ‘bad writing’
Through her love of theatre, Sinha hopes to nurture other emerging playwrights – an area she believes deserves more attention. Sinha spent a semester studying abroad at the New School in New York City where she was surrounded by playwrights and inspired by their shared experiences of workshopping scripts together and collaborating on the writing process.
She aspires to bring a similar spirit of experimentation and peer feedback to Western. For Sinha, it’s all about breaking down barriers to writing and foster cross-disciplinary collaboration through theatre.
“I want to make it a more accessible space. I want to make a Bad Writing Competition. I think bad writing is awesome! I love things that are bad.”
She hopes to inspire students from all disciplines to join in the act of writing no matter how experienced they are, and to encourage them to have fun through the process, without the pressure of producing publication-ready work.
Sinha is the type of person you want as a dinner party guest – animated, articulate and a gifted storyteller. Conversations are sprinkled with amusing anecdotes and the self-deprecating humour of her generation. She thrives in diverse social settings, absorbing the everyday stories of others as deeply as she engages with literature, film and philosophy. She spends her summers writing plays with her best friend “being each other’s dramaturgs” and figuring out how to make their work better.
She loves editing other people’s work and approaching the editing process with an “interrogative spirit, while asking tough questions about artistic choices to help writers clarify their intentions.”
“Having half-artistic, half-psychological discussions is really what I love,” she said. Sinha hopes to carry this love of dialogue into her role as student writer-in-residence, supporting her peers’ creative work through thoughtful conversation and critique.
Curious about life and art
Sinha’s personality is well-suited to the multidisciplinary learning approach of her double-major in SASAH and English. In conversation, she casually references books, films, philosophers and professors who have shaped her thinking – touching on everything from critical race theory to contemporary theatre. Some of her recent inspiration comes from niche biographies, including those of René Redzepi, the influential chef at famed Copenhagen restaurant Noma, tennis pro Andre Agassi and travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain.
“That’s where a lot of my artistic drive comes from,” Sinha said. “I’m curious about things.”
Over the summer, Sinha was assistant production manager at a theatre company in Toronto called Single Thread Theatre Company. In the coming academic year, along with her duties as student writer-in-residence, she will also serve as assistant director for the English Fall Drama Production of Machinal by Sophie Treadwell – a play she first encountered in Professor Jo Devereux’s contemporary theatre course. She will also be directing the King’s Player’s Winter Musical, 9 to 5 as well as Theatre Western’s spring musical.
“I am really interested in learning as much as I can about all kinds of art,” Sinha said. And it’s clear that she has no plans to slow down. As she embraces her new role, she looks forward to new creative challenges – and finding inspiration in the most unexpected places.
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Sinha will hold her inaugural reading on Sept. 24 in University Community Centre, room 56 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Student writer-in-residence office hours for the fall semester are Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Appointments can be made by email.
