Interviews

Therukoothu in 2005

There was no mike, no stage and no cameras

flashing. With vibrant colours, the dancers whirled
with ease. Their high-pitch voice could be heard at
least 1 km around the performance ground in the
night.

The musical accompaniment kept the audience

spellbound. That was the scene at 11 p. m. on
January 16 at Nedungunam, a village of about 5,000
people in Tiruvannamalai district, 140 km from
Chennai.

The audience comprised mostly elderly men and women. There was a considerable
number of youth lingering here and there, watching the performers do their make-
up. They also eagerly awaited the arrival of the
clown on the "stage" to play pranks and
provide comic interludes. There were little
children scattered here and there who accompanied their parents because they
didn't want to be left alone at home when everybody was watching the show. Also,
they wanted to boast the next day that they had been awake the whole night
watching a play.

When asked why they had Therukoothu performed on Kaanum Pongal day, the
village headman said, "We work hard during the month of Margazhi and women
have a lot of work cooking, putting kolam and cleaning the house during Pongal.
On the last day of the festivities, we don't have work and we want to rest. Since
it's a resting day, we enjoy a show like Therukoothu. That's the reason why we
have it on the last day of the Pongal festival."

The Therukoothu was performed by Cheyyar Kalaimamani Vibishnan troupe. They

presented Por Mannan Sandai (Warrior King's Fight) or what's colloquially called
'Botharaja Thirumanam' (Botharaja's Wedding). The head of the theatre,
Manikkam, is past 60 and has been acting for more
than 18 years. Here's an excerpt of the interview
ChennaiOnline had with him.

In today's world, entertainment is ruled by

cinema. How do you think this folk art survives?

Our art is not affected by cinema at all. It's true

everything is turning towards cinema and the small
screen. However, in villages, this art still has its hold
on people. After a day's work, they prefer to sit and watch their fellowmen
performing simple acts rather than watching larger-than-life heroes and heroines
perform incredible adventures. I don't think we suffer any loss at all.

Do you get enough money out of this? Does the government encourage
you monetarily?
 It's true the income is not that good. We don't
get shows all the days. Our art is seasonal.
During the months of Thai and Panguni, we have
at least 10 shows at a row in three months.
Chithirai is another promising month for this
traditional theatre. Since we have agriculture as
the means of livelihood, we don't worry much
about the money. The government doesn't help
us in any way.

What's the procedure for a new person who comes to you to learn the art?

We first give him small roles. We see how he performs. We watch how graceful his
movements are. We give him very simple roles to perform on the stage in the
beginning. That's how we start the practice. Anybody can learn it. Whether he will
be accepted or not depends upon his performance. Since the person who comes to
learn it does that out of sheer necessity and interest, we don't usually reject him.

Do you follow a written script for your stories? Or do you have only the
cultural memories to follow?

We follow the myths as all of us have been told. We follow certain written scripts
also. Our group is known for the performance of Kalavai Kumaraswamy's books.
We present mostly whatever the audience already knows.

Could you tell us about the cosmetics you use?

The colours we use are home-made ones. Everything is made by us as taught by

our gurus. Sometimes we use commercial cosmetics.
But that's on rare occasions. We use coconut oil to
wipe it off after the performance.

How many hours does it take for the make-up?

We finish our make-up within half-an-hour. The

characters which have to appear first on the stage
start the make-up first. The rest do it slowly
according to the order of their role needed on the
stage. When we are off-stage, we become a part of the choir and sing with the
troupe.

The performance lasts 6 to 8 hours. Tell us about memorising the songs, lyrics and
the dialogues.

The dialogues and lyrics have become a part of us. We practice it so thoroughly
that we don't forget even a line or a word. If at all we make mistakes, it will be
only because of a word. We correct ourselves then and there and use the correct
word or name as required.
 Do you introduce any changes in your script?

We don't do any innovations as such. Since people

are always interested in old stories, we don't
introduce anything new. They never get tired of the
old ways of life. Since they don't prefer a diluted or
distorted version, we don't go for changes.

Why don't you have woman actors in your group?

Women usually don't come forward to act. We have never come across any woman
who was interested in doing a role in Therukoothu.

How does the male actor who does the role of a woman feel? Could you
describe his behavior on stage as a woman?

We have only one male actor who dons the role of a woman on the stage. The only
difference is that he has longer hair. When he's on stage, he walks and behaves
like a woman though his voice doesn't sound like a woman's. The audience knows
that it's a man and they don't demand that the voice should sound like a woman's.
Off stage, he's like any other man.

Sumathi Ellappan
Published on Feb 2nd, 2005