In its earliest forms, theatre in Kerala encompassed performing arts like Kootiyattam, which called for an erudite audience, along with folk art performances like the 'Kakkarissi Natakam'.

Inspired by the Christian religious plays of Europe, the Christians of Kerala evolved their own theatre called the Chavittunatakom. Pure Malayalam theatre is captured in all its essence in Kerala Varma Valia Koithampuran's 'Abhignana Sakunthalam' (1898 AD), a translation of Kalidasa's 'Sakunthalam'.

Since the forties, a number of professional drama troupes have been functioning all over Kerala. The KPAC, a theatre troupe formed for the propagation of communist ideology, deserves special mention.

The seventies saw the emergence of a new school of drama called the 'Thanathu Nataka Vedi', purporting to revive the native elements of the art forms of Kerala.

However, in the eighties, street plays stole the show. The Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad used street plays as an effective medium to popularise science among the masses.