Using an examination of theatrical and musical performance in a small Valleys town as a focus, this work puts forward an argued discussion of contemporary Welsh theatre in its cultural context. The text uses the south Wales valleys as a means of locating and exploring certain key issues: those connected to "coercive" ideas about what "ideal" theatre is; the relationship between politics and performance; the conundrum of community theatre; the role of theatre practice in marginalized regions; and the significance of class to theatre and the problem of a system of arts subsidy which foists inappropriate external theatre product on indigenous audiences.