Gwyn Thomas
Gwyn Thomas was a notable Welsh writer born in 1913, whose literary career spanned several decades, beginning with his first book in 1946 and concluding with his last publication in 1972. He wrote a diverse array of works, including novels, short stories, radio dramas, television plays, and stage plays, often reflecting the themes of poverty, insularity, and the complexities of Welsh life. Raised in a challenging environment as one of twelve children of a coal miner, Thomas's early experiences profoundly shaped his worldview and literary voice. After studying at Oxford, he spent over twenty years as a schoolmaster, during which he developed a reputation for his wit and creativity, engaging his students with anecdotes and stories from his life.
Thomas's plays, such as "The Keep," "Loud Organs," and "Jackie the Jumper," explored social tensions within Welsh society and were characterized by a blend of humor and darker themes. His work gained national recognition in the 1950s, leading to successful productions at prestigious venues like the Royal Court Theatre. Additionally, his contributions to the BBC included participation in the talk show "Brains Trust," showcasing his intellect and engaging personality. Despite facing challenges, including a lack of acknowledgment for some of his works, Thomas's legacy as a significant figure in Welsh literature and drama endures, having been honored posthumously by the BBC and celebrated for capturing the essence of Welsh culture through his writing.
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Subject Terms
Gwyn Thomas
Writer
- Born: July 6, 1913
- Birthplace: Perth, Glamorgan, Wales
- Died: April 14, 1981
- Place of death: Cardiff, Wales
Biography
A prolific writer, Gwyn Thomas produced a variety of fiction over the span of his literary career from his first book published in 1946, Where Did I Put My Pity? Folk Tales from the Modern Welsh, to his last in 1972, The Sky of Our Lives: Three Novellas. Several of his works also appeared in the first years after his death in 1981. Among his writings are novels, short stories, radio dramas, television plays, and stage plays. In addition to being a writer, he was a witty participant in the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) talk show, Brains Trust.
Thomas was born in Wales in 1913, one of twelve children of a coal miner who was often out of work and even out of the house. His mother died when he was six and his eldest sister brought him up. He developed a taste for books from his parents, especially his older brother, and he went on to obtain a degree from Oxford University. After completing his college education, he returned to Wales, where for more than twenty years he worked as a schoolmaster, first at Cardigan, and then at Barry Schools. The students in his classes have recounted numerous anecdotes of his wit and impishness.
During these years, he also wrote in his spare time. His stories and plays are almost all set in Wales and their themes deal with poverty, insularity, and hopelessness as well as beauty and humor. By the end of World War II, he had written three novels and they were soon published, partly due to the initiative of his wife, Lyn, whom he had married in 1938. By 1956, he had gained a national reputation that led to a meeting with George Devine of the English Stage Company. The company had become famous for producing new, provocative, and innovative plays, such as John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger. Devine urged Thomas to turn his talents to writing plays for the company.
Although Thomas had written a number of novels and short stories and nine radio plays for the BBC, he felt uneasy about writing a stage play. After a number of false starts and abandoned scripts, he came forward with a play entitled The Keep. The title draws a parallel between a castle prison set deep inside the walls and the Welsh society that Thomas saw as entrapped, stuck in the past, and stymied by lethargy. The play is also slightly autobiographical inasmuch as it deals with a large family maintained by an elder sister and a domineering older brother in the absence of the mother, who disappeared in America, and the father, who was generally just elsewhere. While it is a close, domestic drama, it also reverberates against the larger outside world. The play met with great success in 1960 when it was produced at the Royal Court Theatre, the home of the English Stage Company.
Encouraged, Thomas went on to write two more plays in rapid succession. The first was Loud Organs, produced in 1962 by Richard Rhys in two out-of-town tryouts. Again, the concept was to use a relatively realistic closed setting as a parallel to Welsh society. This time the setting is a dim nightclub set inside an abandoned chapel. Rhys had wanted a musical play and Thomas obliged with a piece in which the musicians were also characters. Rhys replaced them with an orchestra against Thomas’s objections. Rhys’s decision, and the criticism of Welsh society, may have worked against the success of the piece with Welsh audiences. The second play was Jackie the Jumper, produced in 1963 at the Royal Court Theatre. This was a period piece set during the factory riots in Cardiff, Wales, in the 1830’s. The play depicts the conflict between rebellion and repression, both seen as counterparts to one another that result in a stagnant, repetitious, and aimless world. Despite the seeming bleakness of these plays, they are infused with a rich humor. The music in both plays serves to counter the darkness of the characters’ lives.
Thomas also went to work on a cheerful but bitter satire of war, using rousing songs from the 1910’s to accompany the horrors of war. He contracted for the play, entitled Sap, to be developed at the Theatre Royal in East Stratford. In 1963, the central idea of Sap was presented in Joan Littlewood’s play, Oh What a Lovely War!, with no credit given to Thomas. Sap was produced more than a decade later, in 1974, by the Welsh Drama Company. That company also produced Thomas’s last stage play,The Breakers, in 1976; the play chronicles the life of a Welsh family from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries. In 1993, the BBC commemorated Thomas’s life and work with a biographical television drama in which Anthony Hopkins portrayed the author.