Kaṭṭaikkūttu’s Performance Spaces

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PHOTO CREDITS

Hanne M. de Bruin, Kat.t.aikkuttu Sangam (www.kattaikkuttu.org). Sue Rees (www.suerees.org) (http://rajagopalactor.org/) research partially funded from a Fulbright Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award 2016-2018 and faculty grants from Bennington College, USA.

Villages festivals represented: Aiyankarkulam Village, Cheyyar Village, Kolivakkam Village, Kulamanthai Village, Maantankal Village, Marutam Village, Onkur Village, Takkolam Town.

Photographs and stills: Sue Rees. Set/Staging/Light Plans for Karnatic Kat.t.aikkuttu: Sue Rees. Additional photographs: Peevee, PV Jayan, AR Sumanth Kumar.

Edit of overnight performance of Karna Moks.ham including traveling to the village, performance and leaving from March 2006. https://youtu.be/erApoLdV_2A

Edit of overnight performance of Dice and Disrobing (Pakatai Tukil) 22nd January 2008 at Kolivakkam Village, Tamil Nadu, India. https://youtu.be/kWdi6rqtH6s

Notes

1 The theatre is also known by the name Terukkūttu or simply Kūttu. For a discussion about the name of the theatre, which has been the subject of debate, see de Bruin 2000.

2 See Rajagopal 2005 and 2014 for his published plays.

3 See www.kattaikkuttu.org

4 The Gurukulam was forced to close its doors in March 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic made its work impossible.

5 Personal communication – P. Rajagopal speaking about Kaṭṭaikkūttu in his father’s and grandfather’s times, 16 November 2020.

6 Duryodhana (P. Rajagopal) during The Eighteenth Day and T. M. Krishna (as Krishna). Mumbai, India 2017. https://bit.ly/3l7b91h

7 Edit of overnight performance of Karna Moksham including traveling to the village, performance and leaving from March 2006. https://bit.ly/2PZ8Qll

8 According to Bim Mason, outdoor performances and street theatre in Europe suffer from a similar prejudice: they are not considered proper theatre because the performances lack an official space and/ or theatre building (Mason, as quoted in de Bruin 1999, 11, fn. 12).

9 See, for example, Chanda-Vaz 2019.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hanne M. de Bruin

I would like to see myself as a facilitator/instigator who likes to go against the grain, and a self-made manager, dramaturg and costume designer who has helped establish the Kattaikkuttu Sangam and Gurukulam. Both these institutions were part of a dream my life partner - Kattaikkuttu actor, playwright and director P. Rajagopal - had to bring about greater cooperation among his fellow performers and to offer rural, disadvantaged children like himself access to theatre training and education under the same roof so as to build a new generation of well-trained and educated Kattaikkūttu performers.

Having trained in Indology at the University of Leiden, I use my academic knowledge and skills to advocate for the cause(s) of the Sangam, the theatre and its professional rural performers. I am passionate about enabling girls and young women to participate in what was once a maleonly theatre tradition, alleviating the stigma on women performers and ensuring that they, too, can make their voices heard on and off stage. It is a privilege to have worked together with Sue Rees who has been pivotal in documenting the theatre and the growth of our work. This essay is a tangible outcome of our years' long collaboration across the oceans.