Vayala Vasudevan Pillai Biography 
Vayala Vasudevan Pillai was a noted playwright of Kerala who writes in Malayalam, who has directed more than 40 plays as well. He was the disciple of eminent playwright G. Sankara Pillai. Viswadarsanam (1977), Thulaseevaram (1979), Agni (1982), Rangabhasha (1984), Varavelpu (1985), Kuchelagadha (1988), The Death of Nestling (1992), Suthradhara, Ethile... Ethile? (1993), Kunji Chirakukal (1994), and Swarnakokkukal (1999) are his most popular theatre works. In 1981, he received Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for his noted play – Agni. He was also a recipient of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award. He received the award in 2009 for his contributions to theatre. He has served as the director of School of Drama, Thrissur for more two decades.
He was born on April 22, 1945 in Vayala of Kollam District, Kerala. Neelakanta Pillai and Kalyani Amma were his parents. He completed BA and MA in English literature from Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram City. Then he joined Mar Ivanios College as a teaching faculty and later completed doctorate in Theatre and Drama. He formed theatre troupe named Suvarnarekha during this period. He was awarded theatre fellowships from many countries for his research works later. He did research in theatre in University of Rome (1980-81), New York University (1989-90), University of Paris and University of Athens in 2008. He was also a visiting professor of theatre in Meiji University, Tokyo.
Vayala was groomed by the Kalari theatre movement started by his mentor and guru, G. Sankara Pillai – a noted playwright and critic. He later joined the School of Drama, Thrissur as assistant director. In 1984, he became the head of the department. Pillai died of cancer in Kochi on August 29, 2011.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 06, 2014
