Theatre Personalities of Andhra Pradesh, with their theatrical excellence, flourished in the present south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh since the second century BC. The first mention of Telugu theatre in the Telugu language appears in Palkuriki Samantha`s poetical texts, Basavapuranamu and Panditaradhya charitramu. He, one of the theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh, narrated a play, Siriyalu charitra or "Siriyalu`s Story".
In later days, the theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh worked in Sanskrit theatre and plays that were translated in poetic or Bhatti Kavya, but not in the dramatic form. The theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh intensely worked in folk theatre and entertained the rural public. Paravastu Rangacharyulu, Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Vavilala Vasudeva Sastry, Kondubhotla, Eemani Laxmana Swamy, Bhatta Narayana Mrigaraja and Dharmavaram Ramakrishnamacharyulu were reputed theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh.
An eminent theatre personality of Andhra Pradesh, Ramakrishnamacharyulu started Chitra Naliyam. This kind of stage music became immediately popular all over the Indian state of Andhra. Through padya natakam, theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh turned stars overnight. To meet the audiences overwhelming response, several theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh performed musical theatre. New authors, basically poets, began writing plays for the theatre. Two other significant contributions to dramatic literature made by the theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh were noteworthy. They were Kanyasulkam and Prataparudriya natakam. Padya natakam brought to the forefront many theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh during die next twenty-five years.
The theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh made possible a sustainable professional theatre, which led to the establishment of more commercial companies in the next decade. The frequent visits of Parsi theatre troupes influenced the theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh brought changes in lighting and music. Harmonium and tabla replaced violin, veena, and mridangam drums were still very important. The first three decades of the twentieth century witnessed the glory of the theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh for their commercial theatre. Majority of theatre personalities of Andhra Pradesh are closely associated with the organisations like Andhra Nataka Kala Parishath (ANKP), Praja Natya Mandali (PNM), and Andhra University Experimental Theatre (AUET).
