The musical plays of Lebanese Maroun Naccache from the mid-1800s are considered the birth of not only theatre in Lebanon, but also modern Arab theatre. Modern Arabic drama began to be written in the 19th century chiefly in Egypt and mainly influenced and in imitation of French works. It was not until the 20th century that it began to develop a distinctly Arab flavour and be seen elsewhere. The most important Arab playwright was Tawfiq al-Hakim whose first play was a re-telling of the Qur'anic story of the Seven sleepers and the second an epilogue for the "Thousand and One Nights". Other important dramatists of the region include Yusuf al-Ani from Iraq and Saadallah Wannous from Syria.