Na Muthuswamy, founder of Tamil theatre group Koothu-P-Pattarai, dies aged 82

CHENNAI: Playwright and theatre artist Na Muthuswamy, founder of Tamil theatre group Koothu-P-Pattarai, passed away in Chennai on Wednesday. He was 82.
Muthuswamy was awarded the Padma Shri in 2012 and the Sangit Natak Akademi Award in 1999.
His 1969 play “Kalam Kalamaga” was hailed as one of the first ‘modern’ Tamil plays.
Muthusway incorporated the gestures and movements of classical and folk dance and traditional martial arts into his productions, creating a whole new alternate movement in Tamil theatre.
“The performance would come alive, the experience was immersive. This was revolutionary at a time when theatre was all about hour-long monologues from lead actors,” says artist P Krishnamurthi, long-time friend of Muthusway.
“In his death, we have lost one of the finest Tamil playwrights,” he says
A short story writer, Muthuswamy, who was born in Punjai in Thanjavur district, decided to write plays as he was inspired – or “swept off his feet”, as he stated in an interview – by the folk theatre format of therakoothu.
His plays were published in magazines such as Nadai.
In 1977, he established the theatre training institution Koothu-P-Pattarai (meaning complete theatre).
The first play he wrote was “Kalam Kalamaha” in 1969, followed by other avant-garde productions such as Narkalikkararin and Suvarottikal.