Women take centre stage at Kattaikkuttu Sangam

Kattaikkuttu Sangam’s new play, Tavam, breaks new ground with an all-woman cast

Tamilarasi holds her infant with one hand as she swiftly applies make up with the other. She is getting ready for a Kattaikkoothu performance and is transforming into a menacing Dushasana. S. Tamilarasi, K. Venda, R. Mahalakshmi, A. Bharathi and S. Srimathy have embarked on a dream project — they are part of an all-woman Kattaikkoothu show that hopes to break the social taboos associated with women performing Koothu.

As one enters the Kuttu Kalai Koodam in Kanchipuram, a striking vintage portrait from the 1930s greets visitors. It shows a group of Koothu artistes posing for the camera, just before or after a show. The man in the centre is Ponnusami, who is draped in a sari for a female role. In those days, Kattaikoothu was strictly an all-male affair, deemed too physically demanding and socially demeaning for women. In this taxing theatre form, which is widespread in the northern and central parts of rural Tamil Nadu, the actors are required to put on elaborate makeup and costumes, sing, dance and speak dialogues.

P. Rajagopal, Ponnusami’s son, and Hanne M. de Bruin, the co-founders of Kattaikkuttu Sangam, have, over the past two decades, tried to break these taboos. One of their interventions has been to facilitate the entry of women into Koothu. Many women have shone brightly in the field, but it has not been easy. Social pressure as well as the responsibilities imposed after marriage and childbirth have forced many of them to discontinue the art form that they painstakingly mastered through years of rigorous training.