Naga-Mandala ("Play with a Cobra")
Cast of Characters
Rehearsals begin mid-January, 2026. Production dates: March 13, 14, 15, 2026.
VENUE: The Circus Arts Conservatory, Sarasota.
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At this point, most of the major roles have been cast. We are accepting actor resumes for the roles of Flames and Village Elders, from local actors. Local, non-union actors in the Sarasota, FL area are invited to submit resumes and video submissions/links to audition. Email to salilsingh1@gmail.com.
RANI (Lead)
Female. Could be any ethnicity. Late teens to 20s. Needs to look young, but capable of projecting a more mature persona by the end. Goes from naive teen to adult to young mother. Movement/dance experience a huge plus.
APPANNA/NAGA (Lead) -- ("Any Man / The Cobra") dual role
Male, 20s to 30s age range — could be any ethnicity. Movement/dance experience a great asset. Dramatic/intense/Poetic. Sinewy, languid, lightning reflexes. Capable of a wide range of emotions.
This is a role in which the same actor plays two characters who are identical in appearance but on opposite ends of the spectrum of cruelty and kindness, anger and infinite love. Appanna is the husband of Rani; Naga is a king cobra who falls in love with Rani, takes the form of her husband and begins to visit her as such. Appanna seems to be at war with himself and the world whereas Naga is like love incarnate.
STORY
Female, 20s to 30s age range. Narrator and storyteller. She is Rani's story personified. Passionate, articulate, deeply connected to every nuance of Rani's life, every twist and turn of the events that surround her. Singing experience/ability highly desirable.
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KURUDAVVA (the 'Blind One')
Female, 50s to 60s age range. A blind old woman. Local busybody. Magical, wise soul. She befriends Rani and acts as the catalyst who awakens the king cobra's love for her.
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KAPPANNA (the 'Dark One')
Male, 20s to 40s age range. Kurudavva's son. He carries her around the village on his back. Comic/dramatic role. A bit of a buffoon yet also in tune with another, magical world that seems to beckon to him.​
THE FLAMES (multiple roles)
Females, ages 10 to 60s. Together, they personify the flames that have been blown out all over the village at night. They all carry stories with them. Magical, ethereal, yet also like a gathering of friends and gossips. A chorus-like presence that cradles the entire story of Rani.
VILLAGE ELDERS (three)
Male/Female, 40s to 70s age range​
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Girish Karnad, Playwright
Plot Synopsis
‘Naga-Mandala’ the play is set amongst a ruins. In the prologue, we encounter a Man, struggling with his own mortality. We find out that he has been cursed to stay awake an entire night or he will die. He is a playwright who has written plays putting his audiences to sleep and now, this “abused mass of sleep” has turned against him and become the “Curse of Death”, causing him to flee to this ruined place to hide and try to stay awake until dawn. Even as he confesses his dilemma to the audience, he takes a vow abjuring all playwriting, all storytelling.
Just then, in a magical moment, ‘flames’ floating through the air descend upon the place. The Man hides and observes them—it is said that when flames are blown out in people’s homes, they gather some place to gossip about what they have witnessed of human lives. This is where they appear tonight, personified as characters. Also amongst them is the character of ‘Story Wrapped in Song.’ She is despondent because she is unable to relate her tale to anyone who will pass it on. The Man leaps out and grabs hold of her hand, promising to listen all night, since his life depends on it. Thus begins a play within a play, the tale of a young woman Rani, with her long black hair falling to her ankles like the hood of a cobra; her husband Appanna who is at war with himself and the world, and the King Cobra (Naga) who falls in love with Rani.
By the time the play will end, we will have witnessed an astonishing, mesmerizing tale of love and magical transformation rekindling the Man’s inspiration and love of storytelling as he wrestles with the story that he encounters through the night.