Gwyn Thomas was an extraordinarily prolific and inventive writer across a range of genres. In some respects, theater may not have been his ideal form in that his interest in plot, development, and conventional dramaturgy was always less than his interest in dialogue almost as an end in itself (it may well be that his extensive work on radio drama was more suited to his talents). Moreover, his experience of theater was plagued by misfortunes over which he had no control and that lessened the impact and reputation he might have had. Nevertheless, he was a distinctive playwright who played a part in the innovations that happened in British theater in the 1960s, as well as being an important, if not always universally welcomed, contributor to postwar debates about Welsh national identity.

Thomas was born in Cymmer, Porth, a coal-mining area in the Rhondda valley in South Wales...