PC Ramakrishna’s association with theater began 60 years ago, when he acted in college plays. In 1969, he directed the play Willis Hall long, short and long,’ for Loyola College. Ramakrishna says, “This was the first Loyola play to be staged in the museum theatre.” In the same year, Ammu Mathew, president of Madras Players, gave her a chance to act in Arthur Miller the crucibleWhich was about the 17th century Massachusetts witch trials. “Girish Karnad played the hero, and I was Reverend Paris,” says Ramakrishna, who has acted in more than 100 plays with the Madras Players. After 2000, he turned to direction.
PC Ramakrishna’s WaterAn English play by Komal Swaminathan Thanneer Thanneer Was staged in 2012. Photo Courtesy: PV Ramkumar
in 2012, WaterAn English play by Komal Swaminathan Thanneer ThanneerDirected by Ramakrishna, took the stage by storm. “I saw the Tamil play at the Mylapore Fine Arts Club in 1980, and I found it interesting. In 2011, I found an English translation of the play by Dr. Shankar, a professor in Hawaii. Subsequently WaterI felt that we should continue to present regional literature in English.
from english drama KamalakshiDirected by Ramakrishna. Photo courtesy: R. Ravindran
Ramakrishna learned mridangam from two disciples of Palghat Mani Iyer for 12 years, and then from Mani Iyer himself for six years. “My first concert was for T.K. Govinda Rao at the Music Academy in 1964. But after that I never played music. I took up a corporate career and theater took up all my free time.” Due to his interest in music, he took pleasure in dramatizing Sita Ravi’s short stories on the Carnatic musical trinity translated by Prabha Sridevan. “Trinity brought together music lovers and theater lovers. It premiered in 2018 and was staged in Toronto in 2020, followed by full shows in other cities.” Ramakrishna also directed Sujatha Vijayaraghavan KamalakshiA story about a dancer.
Ramakrishna was a part of Lalgudi Jayaraman’s operatic ballet ‘Jaya Jaya Devi’. “As Nandi, I played the mridangam and connected all the stories through my narrative, which I scripted. It took just a month for the violinist to write the lyrics and compose the music for them. He would compose and record a piece every night. The next morning, I would collect the cassette and take it to Bharatnatyam artiste Radha for choreography. She did not give the pieces in the order in which they appeared. For example For this, he gave a Keeravani Varnam last, and a Thillana first. He used the dissonant raga Sucharitra for dissonant moments in the play. We didn’t have time for rehearsal here. We rehearsed in a temple in Cleveland. The show was presented in 23 cities across America and ‘Jaya Jaya Devi’ was successful.
PC Ramakrishna included Mercy, English adaptation of a Tamil novel written by Sivasankari. , Photo Courtesy: The Hindu Archives
At the request of the Madras High Court, the Madras Players dramatized the 1945 Lakshmikantan murder trial, in which actors Tyagaraja Bhagavathar and NS Krishnan were accused. “I wrote the script after reading all the court transcripts. I ran it by lawyer NL Raja, who played defense lawyer KM Munshi. Our props had the perfect period look, as our set designer copied the design of the old court furniture that is now on display in the High Court Museum.”
How did you find someone who spoke English with a British accent to play Judge Mockett? “There was a technologist named Michael Caves, who was in Chennai, and he played the mockumentary.”
Talking about choosing stories, Ramakrishna says, “They should have the three ‘C’s’ – content, character and conflict. Without conflict, there is no drama. I also like strong female characters, which is why I dramatized Chudamani’s stories.”
As far as casting is concerned, he believes that the age of the actors should match the characters. “My vision of the character has to be consistent with that person. For example, four women who live in the same apartment complex as me have been cast in some plays because they fit the characters so well. They had never been on stage before.”
What’s it like working with newcomers? “I like it, because they come with no baggage, and they absorb everything I teach them.”
Does he take action now? “Rarely. I feel I should share my knowledge about theater with young people and directing helps me do that.”
published – October 17, 2025 03:32 PM IST