The Merthyr Trilogy Three Plays Author:Alan Osborne These three plays set a standard for excellence in contemporary Welsh theater and this volume brings them together for the first time. The first play, Bull, Rock and Nut, is a remarkable piece of theatre, layered with meanings, violence and power"" (The Guardian), and won the Plays for Wales competition in 1981. Two ex-fighters and their manager... more » gather in a cafe on the day of Johnny Owen's funeral. Life is an opportunity that hasn't arrived as they begin to talk, of heroes and the town that deals hard knocks. In Sunshine and in Shadow (1985) Vee's home is a work of art. She lives in the ugliest housing development in Europe. Her sanctuary is a bed and her family of misfits who crowd near to her flame. The final play, Redemption Song (1987), is a ""stark uncompromising tragedy"" (The South Wales Echo). Mick is a designer of toys, a dreamer, and a dope-smoker. Bo-Bo and Bunny look after Mick, lend him money, push him drugs. Mick's new toy is worth a fortune and opens up for the first time the possibility of escape and personal redemption, but now he owes them.« less