1

A Midsummer Night’s
Dream
 2

ACT 1 SCENE 1

ENTER NARRRATOR
NARRATION #1 (PLOEN)
... It begins with the noble man Egeus is complaining to the duke Theseus about his daughter
Hermia falling in love with the wrong man...

EXIT NARRATOR

ENTER THESEUS AND HIPPOLYTA

THESEUS
Our wedding day is almost here, my beautiful
Hippolyta. We’ll be getting married in four days,
on the day of the new moon. But it seems to me the old
moon is taking too long to fade away! That old,
slow moon is keeping me from getting what I
want.

HIPPOLYTA
No, you’ll see, four days will quickly turn into four
nights. And since we dream at night, time passes
quickly then. Finally the new moon, curved like a
silver bow in the sky, will look down on our
wedding celebration.

ENTER EGEUS

EGEUS
Long live Theseus, our famous and respected duke!

THESEUS
Thanks, good Egeus. What’s new with you?

EGEUS
I’m here, full of anger, to complain about my
daughter Hermia.—Step forward, Demetrius.—
My lord, this man, Demetrius, has my permission
to marry her.—Step forward, Lysander.—But this
other man, Lysander, has cast a magic spell over
my child’s heart.—You, you, Lysander, you’ve
given her poems, and exchanged tokens of love
with my daughter. You’ve pretended to be in love
with her, singing fake love songs softly at her
window by moonlight.
—And, my gracious duke, if she won’t agree
to marry Demetrius right now, I ask you to let me
exercise the right that all fathers have in Athens.
Since she belongs to me, I can do what I want
with her—as the law says: I can either make her
marry Demetrius—or have her killed.

THESEUS
What do you have to say for yourself, Hermia?
Think carefully, pretty girl. You should think of
your father as a god, since he’s the one who gave
you your beauty. Demetrius
is an admirable man.
HERMIA
So is Lysander.

THESEUS
You’re right, Lysander’s admirable too. But since
your father doesn’t want him to marry you, you
have to consider Demetrius to be the better man.

HERMIA
Please, tell me the worst thing that
could happen to me if I refuse to marry
Demetrius.

THESEUS
You’ll either be executed or you’ll never see
another man again. So think carefully about what
you want, beautiful Hermia. Then decide
whether you could stand to be a nun,
living your entire life without a husband or
children.

HERMIA
I’d rather wither away than be with
someone I don’t love.

THESEUS
Take some time to think about this.
DEMETRIUS
Please give in, sweet Hermia.—And Lysander,
stop acting like she’s yours. I’ve got more of a
right to her than you do.

LYSANDER
Her father loves you, Demetrius. So why don’t
you marry him and let me have Hermia?

EGEUS
It’s true, rude Lysander, I do love him. That’s why
I’m giving him my daughter. She’s mine, and I’m
giving her to Demetrius.

LYSANDER
(to THESEUS) My lord, I’m just as noble and rich
as he is. I love Hermia more than he does.
Why shouldn’t I be able to marry her?
Demetrius courted Nedar’s daughter,
Helena, and made her fall in
love with him. That sweet lady, Helena, loves
this horrible and unfaithful man.

THESEUS
Anyway, Demetrius and Egeus, both of
you, come with me. I want to say a few things to
you in private
Come with me, Hippolyta.
EGEUS
We’re following you not only because it is our
duty, but also because we want to.

THEY ALL EXIT EXCEPT LYSANDER AND HERMIA.

LYSANDER
So, listen, Hermia. I
have an aunt who is a widow, who’s very rich
and doesn’t have any children. She lives about
twenty miles from Athens, and she thinks of me
as a son. I could marry you there, gentle Hermia,
where the strict laws of Athens can’t touch us. So
here’s the plan. If you love me, sneak out of your
father’s house tomorrow night and meet me in
the forest a few miles outside of town.

HERMIA
Oh, Lysander, I swear I’ll be there tomorrow. I
swear by Cupid’s strongest bow and his best
gold-tipped arrow.

LYSANDER
Keep your promise, my love. Look, here comes
Helena.

ENTER HELENA
HERMIA
Hello, beautiful Helena! Where are you going?

HELENA
Did you just call me “beautiful”? Take it back.
You’re the beautiful one as far as Demetrius is
concerned. Oh, you’re so lucky!
Teach me how you look the way you do, and
which tricks you used to make Demetrius fall in
love with you.

HERMIA
Don’t worry. He won’t see my face ever again.
Lysander and I are running away from here.

LYSANDER
Helena, we’ll tell you about our secret plan.
Tomorrow night, we plan to sneak out of Athens.

HERMIA
Goodbye, old friend. Pray for us,
And I hope you win over Demetrius!

EXIT HERMIA and LYSANDER

HELENA
It’s amazing how much happier some people are
than others! People throughout Athens think I’m
as beautiful as Hermia. But so what? Demetrius
doesn’t think so, and that’s all that matters.
Love can make
worthless things beautiful. When we’re in love,
we don’t see with our eyes but with our minds.
That’s why paintings of Cupid, the god of love,
always show him as blind.
Before Demetrius ever saw
Hermia, he showered me with promises and
swore he’d be mine forever.
I’ll go tell
Demetrius that Hermia is running away tomorrow
night. He’ll run after her. If he’s grateful to me for
this information, it’ll be worth my pain.

EXIT HELENA

ACT I SCENE 2

ENTER NARRATOR A (Ploen)

NARRATION #2
While Ploen is talking, enter the Mechanicals: BOTTOM, SNUG/SNOUT, QUINCE, FLUTE,
STARVELING to say hello when she says their names.
EXIT MECHANICALS

EXIT NARRATOR A (Ploen)

ENTER NARRATOR B (Ivy)
NARRATION #3
The narrator introduces Oberon and Titania and their conflict.
Q line: “Titania refuses to hand him over”
ACT II SCENE 1

ENTER PUCK & FAIRY

PUCK
Hello spirit! Where are you going?

FAIRY
I work for Titania, the Fairy Queen, and organize fairy
dances for her in the grass. The queen and
her elves will be here soon.

PUCK
The king’s having a party here tonight. Just make
sure the queen doesn’t come anywhere near him,
because King Oberon is extremely angry. He’s
furious because she stole an adorable boy from
an Indian king. Oberon’s jealous.
He wants the child for himself. But
The queen refuses to hand the boy over to
Oberon. And now Oberon and Titania refuse
to speak to each other.

FAIRY
Unless I’m mistaken, you’re that mischievous and
naughty spirit named Robin Goodfellow. Aren’t
you the one who goes around scaring the
maidens in the village and stealing the cream from
the top of the milk? That’s you, right?
PUCK/ROBIN
True. That’s me you’re talking
about, the playful wanderer of the night.
But step aside, fairy! Here
comes Oberon.

FAIRY
And here’s my mistress, Titania. I wish he’d go away!

ENTER OBERON AND TITANIA

OBERON
How not nice to see you, Titania.

TITANIA
What, are you jealous, Oberon? –Fairies, let’s
get out of here. I’ve sworn I’ll never talk to him again.

OBERON
Wait just a minute. Aren’t you
supposed to obey me, your lord and husband?

TITANIA
If you’re my lord and husband, I must be your
lady and wife, so you’re supposed to be faithful to
me. But I know for a fact that you snuck away
from Fairyland disguised as a shepherd
to come here and see that amazon Hippolyta.
OBERON
How can you stand there shamelessly talking
about me and Hippolyta, when you know that I
know about your love for Theseus?

TITANIA
These are nothing but jealous lies. Since the
beginning of midsummer, my fairies and I haven’t
been able to meet anywhere to do our dances in
the wind without being disturbed by you and your
arguments.
And because you interrupt us so that we can’t
dance for them, the winds have made fogs rise
up out of the sea and fall down on the rivers so
that the rivers flood, just to get revenge on you.
Spring, summer, fertile autumn and angry winter
have all changed places.
And this is all
because of our argument. We are responsible for
this.

OBERON
Do something about it, then.
All I’m asking for is to have that little
human boy as part of my crew.

TITANIA
Get over it. I won’t give up this child for all of
Fairyland. His mother was one of my
worshippers, and we always used to gossip
together at night in India. She died
giving birth to that boy, and for her sake I’m
raising him and will not give him up.

OBERON
Give me that boy and I’ll come with you.

TITANIA
Not for your entire fairy kingdom. ---Come fairies,
let's go.

TITANIA AND FAIRY EXIT

OBERON
Well, go on your way, then. You won’t leave this
grove until I’ve paid you back for this.
(to PUCK) My dear Puck,
come here.
Bring me the flower
‘love-in-idleness’.
If its juice is put on someone’s
eyelids while they’re asleep, that person will fall
in love with the next living creature he or she
sees.

PUCK
I go.
EXIT PUCK/ROBIN

OBERON
When I have the juice of that flower, I’ll trickle
some drops of it on Titania’s eyes while she’s
sleeping. She’ll fall madly in love with the first
thing she sees when she wakes up—even if it’s
a lion, a bear, a wolf, a bull, or an
ape. And before I make her normal again—I’ll
make her give me that little boy as my page. But
who’s that coming this way? I’ll make myself
invisible and listen to their conversation.

OBERON HIDES.

ENTER NARRATOR (Ivy)

NARRATION #3.5
…. Oberon has sent Puck.... “so in a hurry he hides behind a tree”

ENTER NARRATOR (Ella)

NARRATION #4
…. Q line “To make him fall in love with Helena” ….

ENTER DEMETRIUS, FOLLOWED BY HELENA

DEMETRIUS
Look, I don’t love you, so stop following me
around. Where are Lysander and beautiful
Hermia? Go away, get out of here, and
stop following me.

HELENA
You attract me to you, you cruel magnet!

DEMETRIUS
Don’t I tell you in the clearest terms that I
do not and cannot love you?

HELENA
Yes, but that makes me love you even more.

DEMETRIUS
Don’t push it. Just looking at you makes me sick.

HELENA
And I get sick when I can’t look at you.

DEMETRIUS
I’ll run away from you and hide in the bushes,
and leave you to the mercy of wild animals.

HELENA
The wildest animal isn’t as cruel as you are. Run
whenever you want to. I will follow.
EXIT DEMETRIUS AND HELENA

OBERON APPEARS

OBERON
Goodbye, nymph. Before he leaves this part of
the forest, you’ll change places: you’ll be the one
running away, and he’ll be in love with you.

ENTER PUCK

OBERON
Do you have the flower? Welcome, traveller.

PUCK
Yes, here it is.

OBERON
Please, give it to me. I’ll
put the juice of this flower on Titania’s eyes, and
fill her with horrible delusions and desires. (he
gives ROBIN part of the flower) You take some
of it too, and look around in this part of the forest.
A sweet Athenian lady is in love with a young
man who wants nothing to do with her. Put some
of this flower’s juice on his eyes, and make sure
to do it carefully, so that he’ll end up loving her more
than she loves him. And then make sure to meet
me before the rooster’s first crow at dawn.
PUCK
Don’t worry, sir. I’m at your service.

THEY ALL EXIT.

ACT II SCENE 2
TITANIA ENTERS WITH HER FAIRIES

TITANIA
Come, dance in a circle and sing a fairy song.
Sing me to sleep now, and
then go off to do your duties and let me rest.

TITANIA FALLS ASLEEP

FAIRY
Okay, let’s go! Everything’s fine now.

FAIRIES EXIT

ENTER OBERON

OBERON
(he squeezes flower juice on TITANIA ’s eyelids)
Whatever you see first when you wake up, think
of it as your true love.

EXIT OBERON
ENTER LYSANDER AND HERMIA

LYSANDER
Hermia, to tell you the truth, I’ve gotten us lost.
We’ll take a rest, if you think it’s a good idea.

HERMIA
Let’s do that, Lysander.

LYSANDER
Sleep well.

HERMIA
You sleep well too.

HERMIA AND LYSANDER SLEEP. ENTER PUCK/ROBIN

PUCK
Wait a second, who’s this? This
must be the guy who rejected the Athenian girl.
And here’s the girl, sleeping soundly on the damp
and dirty ground. Jerk, I throw all
the power of this magic charm on your eyes.

EXIT PUCK

NARRATOR (Ella) ENTERS

NARRATION #5
Puck puts the juice on the wrong person… Q line: “Uh oh. Here comes Demetrius and Helena”
EXIT NARRATOR

ENTER DEMETRIUS AND HELENA, RUNNING

HELENA
Stop, Demetrius! Stop, even if only to kill me.

DEMETRIUS
I’m telling you, get out of here.

HELENA
Don’t leave.

DEMETRIUS
I’m going alone.

EXIT DEMETRIUS

HELENA
Oh, I’m out of breath from this foolish chase.
(she sees Lysander) But who’s this
here? Lysander, on the ground?
Lysander, if you’re alive, wake up.

LYSANDER
(waking up) I’d even run through fire if you told
me to. Radiant, beautiful Helena!
HELENA
Don’t say that, Lysander.
Hermia still loves you, so be happy.

LYSANDER
Happy with Hermia? No, I regret all the boring
time I wasted with her. I don’t love Hermia: I love
Helena.

EXIT LYSANDER AND HELENA

ENTER NARRATOR (Ivy)

NARRATION #6.1
…something about the Mechanicals ….
“Narration 6.1 (Ivy): In another part of the wood, the really bad actors from before are
rehearsing their play. Do you remember them from before? They are Peter Quince the
carpenter but now is the director of the performance they’re practicing. This is Snug the
cabin maker, Bottom the weaver, Flute the bellow-repairman, Snout the handyman and
Starveling the tailor but now they are the actors of the play. These guys are really bad
actors. Really bad actors, but they don’t know it. Let’s give them a round of applause?
Applause!”

ACT III SCENE 1

WHILE TITANIA IS ASLEEP ONSTAGE, THE MECHANICALS ENTER:
BOTTOM, QUINCE, FLUTE, SNUG/SNOUT, STARVELING

BOTTOM
Are we all here?
QUINCE
Right on time. This is the perfect place to
rehearse. Let’s put on our play exactly as we’ll perform it
for the duke.

BOTTOM
Peter Quince –

QUINCE
What is it, jolly Bottom?

BOTTOM
There are things in this comedy of Pyramus and
Thisbe that will never work. First of all, Pyramus
has to take out a sword to kill himself, which is too sad.

SNOUT
That’s a real problem, it’s true.

STARVELING
I think we’ll have to leave out all the killing, come
to think of it.

BOTTOM
Not at all! I’ve got a plan that will fix everything.
Write me a prologue that I can recite to the
audience before the play starts. I’ll tell them that
we won’t hurt anyone with our swords, and that
Pyramus isn’t really dead. And we can tell them that
I’m not really Pyramus—really, I’m Bottom the
weaver.

QUINCE
All right, we’ll have a prologue then.

SNOUT/SNUG
Won’t people be scared of the lion?

STARVELING
I’m really worried about that.

BOTTOM
There’s no scarier wild bird than the living
lion, and we should remember that.

SNOUT/SNUG
So we need another prologue to tell everyone
he's not a real lion.

BOTTOM
No, we can just announce the actor’s name, and
let his face show through the lion costume. And then he
should say his name, and tell them plainly that
he’s Snug the carpenter.

QUINCE
All right, that’s what we’ll do then.
ENTER NARRATOR (Ivy)

NARRATION #6.2
When Bottom the Weaver goes into the bushes to get ready to perform his part in the play,
Puck has an idea. Puck decides to play a trick on the Mechanicals by transforming Bottom’s
head into a Donkey’s head. The mechanicals are now terrified of him and run away.

BOTTOM CHASES MECHANICALS AROUND THE STAGE

EXIT MECHANICALS
EXIT NARRATOR

BOTTOM SINGS
TITANIA WAKES UP

TITANIA
What angel is this who’s waking me
up from my bed of flowers?

BOTTOM
EEEYAAAAH

EXIT TITANIA AND BOTTOM

ENTER NARRATOR (Clareko)

NARRATION #7
…narration … Titania, the fairy queen, who is under the magic flower spell, has fallen in love
with Bottom the donkey. She treats him well and lets her fairies attend and sing to him. The
magic is working very well. …
EXIT CLAREKO
ACT III SCENE 2
ENTER OBERON

OBERON
I wonder if Titania is awake yet, and if she is, I
wonder what the first thing she saw was.
Whatever it is, she must be completely in love
with it now.

ENTER PUCK/ROBIN

OBERON
Ah here comes my messenger.

PUCK
My mistress Titania is in love with a monster.

OBERON
This is going even better than I planned. But have
you put the love juice from the flower on the eyes
of that Athenian, as I asked you to do?

PUCK
Yes, I found him when he was asleep.

OBERON
Step aside. Here’s the Athenian coming now.
PUCK/ROBIN
That’s definitely the woman I saw, but it’s not the same man.

ENTER NARRATOR (Clareko)

NARRATION #7.5 … Puck has put the love juice on the wrong person. Instead of Demetrius
falling in love with Helena, Lysander is in love with Helena. Lysander has abandoned his
girlfriend Hermia to chase after Helena. Demetrius is still chasing after Hermia who wants
nothing to do with him. It has all become very confusing for the lovers. ….

OBERON
What have you done? You’ve made a
mistake and put the love-juice on someone else.

NARRATION #7.6
Oberon is angry with Puck because of his mistake. Puck needs to fix and undo his mistake.

NARRATION #7.7
… Oberon decides to fix things, so he puts the love juice on Demetrius’s eyes to make
Demetrius fall in love with Helena, so everything will be alright. The problem is that Lysander
is still in love with Helena. Now everyone is in love with Helena. Hermia wakes up to find out
that all the boys are in love with Helena. Hermia is really angry with Helena and the two of
them have a fight...
EXIT NARRATOR

ENTER HELENA (and Hermia, unless she’s asleep on stage already)

HERMIA
You trickster, you snake! You thief!
What did you sneak in at night and
steal my love’s heart from him?
HELENA
Oh, that’s very nice! You ought to be ashamed of
yourself! You’re going to make me mad enough
to answer you? Damn you, you faker, you
puppet!

HERMIA
“Puppet”? Why “puppet”?—Oh, I see where this
is going. She’s talking about our difference in
height. She’s paraded in front of him to show off
how tall she is. She won him over with her
height.—Does he have such a high opinion of
you because I’m so short? Is that it? So how
short am I, you painted barber pole? Tell me.
How short am I? I’m not too short to gouge your
eyes out with my fingernails!

HERMIA CHASES HELENA AROUND THE STAGE

HERMIA AND HELENA EXIT

ENTER NARRATOR (Clareko)

NARRATION #8
… The four lovers, exhausted because Puck chased them, fall asleep. Puck enters and
squeezes restorative juice into Lysander’s eyes. This returns him to his old love. Now,
everyone is in love with the right person. In another part of the forest, Oberon watches
Titania as she sleeps with Bottom. Oberon claims the boy he and Titania fought over. He
then squeezes restorative juice into Titania’s eyes which releases her.…

EXIT NARRATOR
ACT IV, Scene 1

ENTER OBERON
OBERON SQUEEZES THE JUICE FROM THE SECOND FLOWER ONTO TITANIA’S EYES

OBERON
Be like you used to be, and see like you used to
see. This bud has the power to undo the effects
of Cupid’s flower. Now, Titania, wake up, my
sweet queen.

TITANIA
(waking up) Oberon, I’ve had such a strange
dream! I dreamed I was in love with an ass.

OBERON
There’s your boyfriend, sleeping right over there.

TITANIA
How did this happen? Oh, I hate looking at his
face now!

OBERON
Let’s go.

EXIT EVERYONE
ENTER NARRATOR (Ploen)
NARRATION #9
...Everyone is going to Theseus’s castle to see the wedding and the mechanicals will be
playing their performance there. The performance is so bad that instead of people hating it
they love it...

ACT V SCENE 1

ENTER ALL THE MECHANICALS

QUINCE
This is the sad story of Pyramus and Thisbe.
They were in love, but were separated by a wall.

SNOUT/SNUG/WALL
I am a wall.

QUINCE
They could only speak to each
other through a hole in the wall.

SNOUT/SNUG/WALL
I am a wall with a small hole in me.

THISBE
You are my love

PYRAMUS
I am your love.
THISBE
Kiss me, my love.

PYRAMUS
The only thing I kiss is this horrible wall.

THISBE
Let’s run away and get married.

PYRAMUS
I will meet you at old Ninny’s tomb.

PYRAMUS AND THISBE EXIT (Bottom and Flute)

SNUG/SNOUT/WALL
I am no longer a wall. My part here is finished.
Goodnight.

SNUG/SNOUT/WALL BOWS TO THE AUDIENCE

QUINCE
Pyramus and Thisbe plan to meet by moonlight.

MOONSHINE (Starveling)
I am moonlight

QUINCE
But when Thisbe gets to the tomb,
a lion scares her away.
LION:
I am a lion.

LION ROARS. THISBE RUNS AWAY.

QUINCE
Pyramus finds the thing that Thisbe dropped and thinks Thisbe is dead.

LION
Roar

PYRAMUS
Be quiet.
Oh no, Thisbe. She is dead.
I will die with you, my love.

PYRAMUS DIES

THISBE ENTERS

THISBE
Oh no, Pyramus.

LION
Roar

THISBE
Shhh Lion, we did that bit already. Be quiet and go home.
EXIT LION

THISBE
Oh no, Pyramus.
Pyramus is dead.
I will die with you, my love.

THISBE DIES

QUINCE
THE END

ENTER THESEUS

THESEUS
Thank you for your wonderful play.
It was the funniest tragedy I have ever seen.

THE MECHANICALS EXIT

THESEUS
The clock has chimed midnight. Lovers, it’s time
to go to bed. It’s almost fairy time. I’m afraid
we’re going to oversleep in the morning as late
as we’ve stayed up tonight. This blatantly stupid
play helped us kill the time until bed. Dear
friends, let’s go to bed. We’ll continue this
celebration for two weeks, with nightly parties
and new fun.
THESEUS EXITS

ENTER NARRATOR (ELLA)

NARRATION 10

Narration 10 (Ella): Everything have come to a happy ending, but before our play is over,
Puck has a message to deliver to us all.

ENTER PUCK

PUCK
If we actors have offended you, just think of it this
way and everything will be all right—you were
asleep when you saw these visions, and this silly
story was no more real than a
dream. Ladies and gentlemen, don’t get upset
with me. If you forgive us, we’ll make everything
all right. So good night to everyone. Give me some applause,
if we’re friends, and Robin will make everything up
to you.

HE EXITS

THE END