Act One

The first act opens in the woods. Tytania's troupe of fairies come in ("Over hill, over dale"), occasionally alarmed by Puck's interruptions. Tytania and Oberon enter ("Ill-met by moonlight") and quarrel over a young boy whom Tytania insists on keeping in her entourage, though Oberon wants him for his. She storms out, and Oberon calls for Puck to bring him the magic herb that will make a person fall madly in love with the next being her or she sees. He leaves, and Lysander and Hermia enter, fleeing her forced marriage to Demetrius. They vow their love and leave. Oberon returns, plotting his scheme further, and he withdraws as Lysander and Helena enter. Lysander is looking for Hermia, but Helena tries to persuade him to forget Hermia and turn to her, instead, vowing that she faithfully adores him ("I am your spaniel"). When they leave, Oberon decides to take a role in these lovers' lives and calls for Puck, who returns with the magic plant ("I know a bank where the wild thyme grows"). They leave and the six rustics come in to rehearse Pyramus and Thisbe, the play they will perform for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Peter Quince assigns roles, a process made livelier by Bottom's various demands. When they leave, Lysander and Hermia enter, totally lost, and fall asleep. Puck, confused about their identities, squeezes the herb's juice onto Lysander's eyelids as he sleeps. When Demetrius and Helena come in and Lysander wakes up, Helena is the first one he sees, and he immediately vows his love for her. She runs off and Lysander goes to chase her, and when Hermia wakes up, she goes to chase Lysander. Tytania returns with her fairies, and they sing her to sleep ("You spotted snakes with double tongue"). Oberon comes in and squeezes the herb onto her eyes, casting a spell to make her awaken at the presence of some unworthy, lowly thing.

Act Two

Tytania is still asleep, and when the rustics come in to rehearse, she sleeps through even Bottom's incessant suggestions for improvements and Quince's concerns about the various stage effects. Puck comes in and watches, and when Bottom makes his exit, follows him. Bottom returns, Puck having transformed his head into a donkey's, and the rustics run out in fright. Bottom is confused, though he sings to keep his spirits up ("The woosel-cock"), the more so when Tytania awakens and immediately falls in love with him. She orders her fairies to attend to his every need ("Be kind and courteous"), though their dainty offerings are not exactly a match for his tastes. He falls asleep, as does Tytania. Puck and Oberon return, and while Oberon is delighted at the success of his plot for revenge against Tytania, he realizes that Puck hasn't done so well with the humans. Demetrius and Hermia enter. Puck goes off to bring Helena and Lysander in, and Oberon squeezes more of the herb on Demetrius' eyes ("Flower of this purple dye"). When Helena and Lysander enter, there is general quarreling. Helena and Hermia spit insults and leave, and the men go off to duel. Oberon and Puck return; Puck gets another scolding and is ordered to set things right. Demetrius and Lysander are made to get so lost in the woods that they're too exhausted to fight, and with applications of the (fortunately available) antidote, the fairies sing a lullaby, "On the ground sleep sound."

Act Three

The final act opens with the lovers, Tytania, and Bottom all asleep (again). Oberon, who has now taken the boy for his own, drops the antidote into Tytania's eyes, and as she wakes up, they are reconciled. They leave at the sound of Theseus' horns, and the lovers then wake up ("And I have found"). Bottom wakes up after they leave, confused by what he imagines to have been a dream. The rustics come in and they rush off to perform. In the palace, where Hippolyta and Theseus are impatient for the ceremonies and celebrations to be over, the lovers come to ask Theseus' blessing. The rustics perform the play, which they take quite seriously even though it is a parody of a tragedy, complete with parted lovers, a foiled elopement, a mad scene, and the deaths of the lovers. At the conclusion there is dancing, and at midnight, the six lovers are ready to obey Theseus ("Lovers, to bed"). After all have left, the fairies return, first to make fun of the play ("Now the hungry lion roars") and then to dance ("Now until the break of day").

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