The drama tradition has been particularly strong in those countries where Brythonic languages are spoken. Mystery plays, many based on saints’ lives, have survived from Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, mainly in fairly late manuscripts but undoubtedly reflecting medieval traditions. In eighteenth-century Wales the 'anterliwt' (‘interlude’), a popular form of satirical verse play attacking contemporary society, was performed in fairs and taverns. In Ireland W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory and the Abbey Theatre played a significant role in developing a new dramatic tradition in the twentieth century.
