Vayala Vasudevan Pillai: A Playwright Par Excellence

Abstract

Vasudevan Pillai is an eminent theatre personality who made significant contributions to the development of indigenous theatre concepts particularly to Malayalam theatre. His spirit of inquiry and quest for knowledge in performing arts were so high that he travelled far and wide and interacted with world renowned dramatists like Antonin Artaud, Jerzy Grotowski, Richard Schechner and Bertolt Brecht which gave him new insights into the world of theatre. Though he had acquired the technical skills of different theatres he never tried to imitate those into the native theatre. Following the footsteps of his mentor G. Sankara Pillai, who set a direction to his dramatic genius Vasudevan Pillai attempted to explore the latent indigenous theatre tradition of Kerala. However, Western theatrical techniques had an influence in shaping his dramatic concepts. Though he has a deep knowledge of the philosophy and techniques of both Eastern and Western theatres, he has not tried to deliberately fit them into his composition and presentation. He preached and penned what he thought proper. Thus he became the voice and expression of truth and humanity in Malayalam theatre.