Karnad’s Nagamandala has perhaps always been a play ahead of its time, dealing with the complex theme of female sexuality in the language of modern theatre characteristic of the 80s decade. Today, in the wake of raging debates on rape, desire, sexuality and morality, the text appears strikingly relevant.

The plot of Play With A Cobra traces the journey of a young girl called Rani from naivety to eventual womanhood in a traumatic marriage, while toiling upon the complex theme of desire. Drawing on the experiences of exclusion, confinement and the inferno of desire that abets transgression, the text revolves around the events of Rani’s mistreatment by her husband, her finding camaraderie in an old widow, to eventual fulfilment of her desires in dubious circumstances. But in fulfilment lies the germ of an impending turmoil - that of moral questioning and judgement.

This adaptation of Nagamandala takes liberties with the original script in two ways. First, it presents the inherent ambiguity of the plot in blatant words to an urban audience. Second, it attempts to shift the focus from the written text to a performative language that relies more on the use of space, lights, and visuals. Play With a Cobra hopes to be not a stage play, but an experience.