Getting Naga in Houston

Posted on by

Having had to close down our bureau offices in Los Angeles at the end of December and subsequently moving to Houston, I’ll admit that I’ve been missing the wonderful desi arts scene out in L.A. Fortunately, Houston has the fourth largest desi population in the U.S. and with it comes an emerging arts scene out here that is full of possibility. On that note, this Friday I will be attending Houston-based Shunya Theater’s production of the play Naga Mandala::

Combining two traditional Indian oral tales, Naga Mandala features a story-within-a-story. A cursed playwright must stay awake all night in the temple, and as he attempts to do so he meets the spirit of a Story who slipped out of an old woman’s mouth as she snored. The Story is that of a young bride who is neglected by her indifferent husband and attempts to win his affection with a love potion; instead, she enchants a King Cobra who begins to visit her every night while her husband is away.

A play in English featuring original music by the Shunya musicians and dance choreography by Mahira

Stages Repertory Theatre
3201 Allen Parkway
Houston, TX 77019
(Directions to theatre)
February 9th – February 25th
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 3PM

I know that I haven’t had the time to organize a Texas meet-up yet (it will have to wait until March), so hopefully I will see some SM readers at this play. Tickets are still available as far as I know.

37 thoughts on “Getting Naga in Houston”

  2. any link to more info i can read on the play itself?

    Nope, that’s all I got. I know that the directors are really talented from their past work if that helps.

  3. I’m gonna be there too!!! yay! I’ll look for you. Are you going to the after-party at the Gatsby afterwards? Shunya is pretty awesome, I actually acted in one of their earlier productions coupla years ago. Lots of fun 🙂

  5. I’m gonna be there too!!! yay! I’ll look for you. Are you going to the after-party at the Gatsby afterwards?

    Sweet! And yes, I’m all about after parties.

  6. Girish Karnad’s play.. Yoohooo. I am big fan of Karnad for more reasons than one. First because he is a great writer-director, second he is from my town in Karnataka.

  7. Stages Repertory is also producing the stage version of Bapsi Sidhwa’s American Brat beginning in March…and GenerAsian Radio has live events fairly regularly on the weekends. Lots of wonderful meetup opportunities – I’m looking forward to one!

    See y’all this Friday. 🙂

  8. Girish Karnad’s play.. Yoohooo. I am big fan of Karnad for more reasons than one. First because he is a great writer-director, second he is from my town in Karnataka.

    Topcat 37…are you from Yemmikere in DWR? or from Malmaddi?

  10. Abhi, you mentioned the LA desi arts scene. I recently moved to LA from NY and have been having been missing that glorious city’s desi arts scene dearly. Save for the couple of events posts in LA on SM lately, I haven’t really figured out a way to tap into the LA scene. Recommendations?

  12. Shunya had an awesome production of Hayavadana a year or so ago. Looking forward to this one!

  13. to tap into the LA scene

    India Sweets and Spices on Venice – your LA dhaaba-dreadlocks-HareKrishna-gargle and spit in the grass-starving student vibe. Really.

  15. talk about a bait and switch. they have this curvylcious babe in the poster and i bet you’ll end up with a bejowlled hound from hell at the play.

    btw – chandra’s reading tonight in TO – see events tab, all you lucky dogs.

  16. talk about a bait and switch. they have this curvylcious babe in the poster and i bet you’ll end up with a bejowlled hound from hell at the play.

    I love that sardonic wit of yours hairy-delish!

  18. she shoulda married a cobra in the first place. 😉 spread the reviews on satday, abhi!

  19. they have this curvylcious babe in the poster and i bet you’ll end up with a bejowlled hound from hell at the play. There is a nice blog going on here by one of the people involved, and they even have a set of pictures showing the evolution of the poster. The lead actress pictured here looks seriously cute 🙂

    The blog even talks about how they have done the set up with people sitting all around the stage (as opposed to facing the stage). This is something I think Girish Karnad himself would have approved of, since it tries to do away with the single view of a regular play and instead aims for the multiple views of the stage that you get in traditional forms of theater in India. I think that just opens up the performance to multiple visual perspectives. Kudos to them. And good luck.

  20. I’m gonna be there too!!! yay! I’ll look for you. Are you going to the after-party at the Gatsby afterwards?

    What is this shit, match.com?

  21. fragile orange,

    What is this shit, match.com?

    Touchy, aren’t ya? Its alright, if you dont get nothing from there, they might give back the monnies after 6 months. I saw it on ads, so no worries 🙂

  24. This is mentioned only on Shunya’s mailing list – tickets for students are discounted to $10. I think this is only advertised on Shunya’s email list. I definitely encourage everyone to go, particularly students – it’s been amazing to watch this theatre company flourish, and make each production better than the one before.

    Can you tell I’m excited? 🙂 I found out about Reincarnation quite by accident when I first moved to Houston (from a non-desi friend, actually) and I’ve been hooked on Shunya ever since.

  25. Girish Karnad’s play.. Yoohooo. I am big fan of Karnad for more reasons than one. First because he is a great writer-director, second he is from my town in Karnataka. Topcat 37…are you from Yemmikere in DWR? or from Malmaddi? so there are guys from DWR here …cant believe it! anybody from karnatak univ

    Suraj and Dharwar, I am from uttara kannada and yes I have got a lot of relatives in Dharwar.

  29. technophobicgeek,

    guess i’ll meet you tonight at the play. i’m good friends with many shunya people so i’ve seen all of their productions. i had a very small role in reincarnation.

  30. hmmm, that just sounded funny the way i wrote it. i didn’t mean it to sound like that. i was just thinking that i may already know you tpg.

    anyways, looking fwd to meeting all the h-town sepia readers/commenters who are coming tonight.

  31. shunya friend

    It is very likely that I know you too! But I shall let Abhi do the honors of bringing us together under the SM banner. See you tonight.

    Abhi, can you wear something very conspicious? Or carry a paddle or something???? 😀

  32. Abhi, can you wear something very conspicious? Or carry a paddle or something???? 😀

    I will be the one wearing a MAG

  34. Abhi, can you wear something very conspicious? Or carry a paddle or something???? 😀

    for a second I thought you asked him to carry a parrot. That would be awesome.

  35. Oh well, I did not manage to find you, Abhi. Perhaps we should have a secret SM hand signal? I guess I’ll look fwd to the SM Houston meetup. I suggest the end of March (I’m gone to China until the 17th).

  36. Oh well, I did not manage to find you, Abhi. Perhaps we should have a secret SM hand signal?

    Did you ask around at all? I know both the directors so you could have asked them. I met all the other readers that came.

  37. Hmmm…I guess I should have asked. Oh well, sometimes I do feel a bit awkward in social situations. Anyway, till next time 🙂