Nagamandala

In the ruins of a temple where the flames of lamps gather to gossip every night, a cursed playwright fights to stay awake and alive. In desperation, he grabs hold of Rani’s story, and Nagamandala-A Play With A Cobra unfolds. Locked up at home by her indifferent husband Appannan, Rani fills her loneliness with stories, creating a fantastic world of dreams and half-truths. The creature in the anthill outside both scares and fascinates her. Is her fear of the cobra stronger than her desire to pursue this relationship? When Rani acts on an impulse, her reality turns upside down. How will reality reconcile with her half-truths when she becomes pregnant? How will society judge her infidelity? And how will Rani negotiate her way forward?

Originally written in Kannada by Girish Karnad, the play is adapted to Puthenchira village in Thrissur district of Kerala. Set in the midst of a ritualistic and oppressive culture, Nagamandala is Rani’s story—A Play With A Cobra.

This performance will have three performances, and is in Malayalam.