E. Eynon Evans the playwright went out of fashion long before died. He wrote comic Welsh plays (in English): "Bless this House", "The Wishing Well", "A New Leaf".
He was a bus driver in Caerphilly I believe who did some amateur acting and some playwriting for his amateur company.
BBC Wales got interested in him and used him as an actor and, later, as a playwright.
His plays were exceedingly popular in Wales particularly but also in Britain and abroad.
But as he got older interest waned and he found it difficult to write anything acceptable to the BBC or anyone else.
When I reviewed theatre for a national newspaper I asked my features editor if he would like a review of "Bless This House" which was on a tour of Wales done by a professional group.
There was a silence before he said "I don't think so," in a tone of voice that implied that E. Eynon Evans's work was a bit below the kind of plays they liked reviewed. Which, I thought, was a pity because while he could write an entertaining piece that made audiences laugh out loud (Welsh audiences paricularly) there was, too, a serious theme underlying the comedy.
"Bless This House" is a play about an ageing woman who visits her three offspring in turn to find out which of them she would prefer to spend the rest of her days with. It's a serious matter for some old people and often more serious for their sons and daughters; for E. Eynon Evans to make problem as palatable as he did in a broad comic form I thought was an achievement. (It's a similar story to the one in the great Japanese film "Tokyo Story")
I knew one of the cast, a man in his late fifties and spoke to him after the show. He said he had been acting all his adult life but had never had such success as this play gave him. "It has played to packed houses all over Wales," he said.
Pity E. Eynon Evans wasn't alive then to enjoy the success.
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I was a close friens of Eynons before he died, and saw and performed in many of his works. ALthough he lived all his lfe in Caerphilly, few new that he was also avery good actor who also performed in the West End, appearing in "The Geese Are Geting Fat" (Phoenix) and his own "Wishing Well" at the Comedy. He was a lovely guy with a great sense of humour and is missed by many - a great character! - Brian Meadows
I was born and lived in Ebbw Vale. In the 1940s, when I was still a young boy, I attended a drama festival in Ebbw Vale. The winning play was 'The Wishing Well' by E Eynon Evans. I believe he wrote this play for the festival. He played the part of Amos The milkman. This play was later made into a film called 'The Happiness of three women' in which he reprized his role as Amos.
This play was so compelling, that I later took part in Amdram for over 40 years. Once playing the lead in Evan's play A New Leaf winning the best actor role in a Thames Valley Festival of One Act Plays. What a character! What a performer and playwright.
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