Influence of Kannada Theatre on Tamil Theatre is evident from the folk theatres of Tamil Nadu and from the style and designs of Tamil Theatre. The Tamil Theatre had an active folk stage. Its performances called Terukkuttam very similar in nature to the Kannada Yakshagana - were frequently staged, particularly on festive occasions like "Pongal".

One of the most ancient and fascinating stories acted on the stage for centuries is that of Nalatangi. As early as in the eleventh century, a Chola king (Rajaraja I) built a beautiful temple of Lord Shiva in his own name and instituted a dramatic troupe which had to enact regularly every year the - Rawraia Nataka. Similarly, the temple has always remained the platform for the Yakshagana performances in the coastal tract of Karnataka and every temple is invariably associated with a troupe of Yakshagana artists. The earliest written form of the drama in Tamil Nadu, was called Nadagam but as V. V. Srinivasa lyengar clarified, the name did not suggest any written form of the drama as is understood today. It was only a Kavya or Prabandha like the Kannada theatre - Yakshagana, having a string of verses with no written dialogue.

The very first written drama in the current sense of the term was written and staged in Tamil Nadu by Govindaswamiraja who is said to have stayed in Karnataka for a long time. His play contained a number of compositions in Sanskrit language. The real inauguration of the Tamil theatre was made by Bellary Krishnamacharya, author of Swapna Aniruddha and father of the Telugu drama who went in about 1883 to Tamil Nadu with his troupe "Sarasa Vinodini Nataka Mandali" and staged a number of plays in Telugu language. These plays were enthusiastically, received and Sri. Sambandham, the "Father of the Tamil Theatre" who, inspired by these performances, started writing plays in Tamil language. Salient features of the Kannada theatre were thus carried by the Telugu stage to bring into existence the Tamil theatre. It is evident, therefore, that at least to start with, and during their early career, the professional theatres of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu owe considerably to the theatre of Karnataka. However, after 1880, during the professional phase up to about 1940, a close contact was maintained by the regional theatres of these different languages. Professional troupes freely visited the regions of one another with mutual influence on the modes of presentations and exchanged dramatic themes. The theatre of Karnataka that had originally supplied the vital ingredients to the theatres of other regions, later received from them, specialised patterns of presentation with stage music, scenery, settings and refined methods of acting.

In order to have at least an approximate estimate of the Karnataka theatre which spurred others into activity, it would perhaps be desirable from the point of view of an academic study to divide the Kannada land into three main parts wherein the theatre manifested itself in different branches. These divisions would be what previously were known as Bombay Karnataka (North Karnataka) Madras Karnataka (South Karnataka) and Mysore. The theatre seems to have developed differently in its three branches cited above, owing to the dictation of different climatic and geographical environments, inevitable contact with the art and culture of the particular division and also action and interaction with the language, culture and arts of the respective neighbouring region like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu or Kerala. North Karnataka and South Karnataka virtually form one continuous stretch of land and remained even administratively undivided until 1862. From the point of view of the evolution of the theatrical art, the entire coastal tract could be reckoned as one region, which evolved the indigenous folk mode of the famed dance-drama, Yakshagana. The eastern plains formed another tract of land with a totally different environment which originated the professional theatre and nursed it into great prosperity. Thirdly, the table-land of Mysore evolved its own theatre, which sprang into existence on account of royal patronage.

Thus, the theatre of Karnataka remained a potent institution of art in its three branches developed in the three different regions of the land. It included different phases like the folk, the professional and the modern amateur theatres. In modern times, its growth strikes one as direct and conspicuous. Its independent characteristics indicate its being an indigenous institution with an antiquity of its own