Theatre to drive social change, stages Gowthama Siddarthan adaptation
Erode: Theatre group Erode Naadaga Kottagai is using the stage as a tool for social awareness, with its latest play Thambi, based on a story by Tamil author Gowthama Siddarthan, set to be performed this weekend.
The group’s origins trace back to a memorial meeting for Tamil theatre doyen N Muthuswamy, founder of Chennai’s Koothu-P-Pattarai. Erode-based actor V Sathish Kumar, who trained with Koothu-P-Pattarai for two years, founded Erode Naadaga Kottagai on Muthuswamy’s first death anniversary in 2019.
Since then, the troupe has grown into a 10-member team made up mostly of school and college students. “Today, there are ten people in our theatre group, most of us school and college students,” says member N Pranesh.
Erode Naadaga Kottagai has staged over 200 shows across Chennai, Coimbatore, and Puducherry, as well as Palakkad and Thrissur in Kerala. The group has also performed at National theatre festivals, carrying its socially engaged work to wider audiences.
With Thambi, the troupe continues its focus on stories that spark conversation and reflection, adapting Siddarthan’s writing for the stage. The performance underscores the group’s commitment to theatre not just as art, but as a means to engage communities on pressing issues.
