A Midsummer Night’s Dream

William Shakespeare

Abridged for the Shakespeare Schools Festival

Martin Lamb & Penelope Middelboe

30 MINUTE VERSION

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LIST OF ROLES
The Athenians
Egeus fATHER TO HERMIA

Hermia IN LOVE WITH LYSANDER

Lysander IN LOVE WITH HERMIA
Demetrius IN LOVE WITH HERMIA
Theseus DUKE OF ATHENS
Hippolyta QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS, BETROTHED TO THESEUS
Helena in love with demetrius ¹
Philostrate the duke’s master of revels
Attendants to the duke
The Mechanicals
Peter Quince a carpenter
Nick Bottom a weaver
Francis Flute a bellows-mender
Tom Snout a tinker
Robin Starveling a tailor
Snug a joiner
The Fairies
Oberon king of the fairies
Titania queen of the fairies
Puck² oberon’s lieutenant
A Fairy
Attendant Fairies

ACT ONE

Scene One.
Athens.
Enter EGEUS and HERMIA his daughter, LYSANDER, and DEMETRIUS in heated discussion. They stand to attention with the arrival of THESEUS arm in arm with HIPPOLYTA.
EGEUS Happy be Theseus, our renowned Duke!
theseus Thanks, good Egeus: what’s the news with thee?
egeus Full of vexation am I, with complaint

Against my child, my daughter Hermia.

Stand forth Demetrius.

(DEMETRIUS stands forward) My noble lord,

This man hath my consent to marry her.

Stand forth Lysander;

(LYSANDER stands forward) and my gracious Duke,

This man hath bewitched the bosom of my child.

(to LYSANDER)

Be it so she will not here before your Grace

Consent to marry with Demetrius,³

I beg the ancient privilege of Athens:

As she is mine, I may dispose of her;

Which shall be either to this gentleman,

Or to her death, according to our law

Immediately provided in that case.⁴

theseus What say you, Hermia? Be advised, fair maid.

Demetrius is a worthy gentleman.

hermia So is Lysander.

I beseech your Grace, that I may know

The worst that may befall me in this case,

If I refuse to wed Demetrius.

theseus Either to die the death, or abjure⁵

For ever the society of men.

theseus Take time to pause, (he thinks), until the next new moon,

The sealing-day⁶ betwixt my love and me.⁷

demetrius Relent, sweet Hermia, and Lysander, yield

Thy crazed title to my certain right.

lysander I am, my Lord, as well derived as he.⁸

Why should not I then prosecute my right?

Demetrius, made love to Helena,

And won her soul; and she, sweet lady dotes,

Upon this inconstant man.

theseus I must confess that I have heard so much.

Come, my Hippolyta; what cheer, my love⁹?

Exeunt all but LYSANDER and HERMIA

lysander Ay me! For aught that I could ever read,

Could ever hear by tale or history,

The course of true love never did run smooth.

hermia If true lovers have been ever crossed,

Then let us teach our trial patience.¹⁰

lysander A good persuasion; therefore hear me, Hermia:

I have a widow aunt,

From Athens is her house remote seven leagues,

And to that place the sharp Athenian law

Cannot pursue us. If thou lov’st me, then,

Steal forth thy father’s house tomorrow night;

And in the wood, there will I stay for thee.

hermiA My good Lysander!
lysander Keep promise, love. Look, here comes Helena.
Enter HELENA hurriedly.
hermia (pleasantly) God speed, fair Helena! Wither away?¹¹
helena Call you me fair? Demetrius loves your fair.

O teach me how you look and with what art

You sway the motion of Demetrius’ heart!

hermia The more I hate, the more he follows me.
helena The more I love, the more he hateth me.
hermia Take comfort: he no more shall see my face;

Lysander and myself will fly this place.

lysander Tomorrow night, through Athens’ gates

We have devised to steal.

hermia And in the wood,

There, my Lysander and myself shall meet.

Keep word, Lysander; till tomorrow deep midnight.

Exit HERMIA
lysander I will, my Hermia. Helena, adieu.

As you on him, Demetrius dote on you.¹²

Exit LYSANDER
HELENA Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.

But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;

He will not know what all but he do know.¹³

I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight;

Then to the wood will he tomorrow night

Pursue her.

Exit

Scene Two.
Athens.
Enter QUINCE the carpenter, SNUG the joiner, BOTTOM the weaver, FLUTE the bellows-mender, SNOUT the tinker, and STARVELING the tailor.
quince Is all our company here? (producing a scroll)

Here is the scroll of every man’s name, which is thought fit, through all Athens, to play before the Duke and the Duchess on his wedding-day at night.

bottom First, good Peter Quince, say what the play treats on.
quince Marry, our play is: ‘The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe.’
bottom A very good piece of work, I assure you. Now, good Peter Quince, call forth your actors by the scroll.
quince Answer as I call you. Nick Bottom, the weaver?
bottom Ready. Name what part I am for, and proceed.
quince You, Nick Bottom, are set down for Pyramus.
bottom What is Pyramus? A lover or a tyrant?
quince A lover, that kills himself most gallant for love.
bottom That will ask some tears in the true performing of it.
quince Francis Flute, the bellows-mender?
flute (his voice is high-pitched) Here, Peter Quince.
quince Flute, you must take Thisbe on you.
flute What is Thisbe? A wandering knight?
quince It is the lady that Pyramus must love.
flute Nay, faith, let not me play a woman; I have a beard coming.¹⁴

bottom Let me play Thisbe too. I’ll speak in a monstrous little voice: (in his deep Pyramus voice) ‘Thisne, Thisne.’ (changing to a high-pitched voice) ‘Ah Pyramus, my lover dear! Thy Thisbe dear, and lady dear!’

quince No, no, you must play Pyramus; and Flute, you Thisbe.
bottom (disappointed) Well, proceed.
quince Snug, the joiner?
snug Here, Pete Quince.
quince You must play the lion’s part.
snug Have you the lion’s part written? For I am slow of study¹⁵.

quince You may do it extempore,¹⁶ for it is nothing but roaring.
bottom Let me play the lion too. I will roar, that I will make the Duke say, ‘Let him roar again, let him roar again!’
quince You can play no part but Pyramus.
quince (handing out scrolls) Masters, here are your parts; tomorrow night meet me in the palace wood. There will we rehearse. I pray you, fail me not.
bottom (threatening the others) Take pains; be perfect; adieu!
Exeunt

      ACT TWO
Scene One
A wood near Athens.
Enter a FAIRY at one side, and PUCK at another.
puck How now, spirit, wither wander you?
a fairy Our queen and all her elves come here anon.
puck The king doth keep his revels here tonight;
Take heed the queen come not within his sight;
For Oberon is passing fell and wrath¹⁷,
Because that she as her attendant hath
A lovely boy stolen from an Indian king.
Make room, fairy! Here comes Oberon.
fairy And here my mistress! Would that he were gone¹⁸!
Enter OBERON, the king of the fairies, at one side with his FAIRIES, and TITANIA, the queen, at another with her FAIRIES.
oberon Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.¹⁹
titania (recognising him and halting) What, jealous Oberon? Fairies, skip hence: I have forsworn his bed and company.²⁰
oberon Why should Titania cross her Oberon?
I do but beg a little changeling boy
To be my henchman.²¹
titania The fairy land buys not the child of me.
oberon How long within this wood intend you stay?
titania Perchance till after Theseus’ wedding-day.
oberon Give me that boy.
titania Not for thy fairy kingdom. Fairies, away!
Exit TITANIA and her FAIRIES
OBERON My gentle Puck, come hither. Thou rememb’rest
A little western flower, called ‘Love-in-idleness’?
Fetch me that flower.
The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.
puck I’ll put a girdle round about the earth
In forty minutes.²²
Exit
oberon Having once this juice,
I’ll watch Titania when she is asleep,
And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:
The next thing then she waking looks upon –
On meddling monkey, or on busy ape –
She shall pursue it with the soul of love.
And ere I take this charm from off her sight,
I’ll make her render up her page²³ to me.
But who comes here? I am invisible,
And I will overhear their conference.²⁴
Enter DEMETRIUS, with HELENA following.
demetrius I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.
demetrius I am sick when I do look on thee.
helena And I am sick when I look not on you.
demetrius Let me go;
Or, if thou follow me, do not believe
But I shall do thee mischief in the wood.²⁵

HELENA Exit DEMETRIUS
I’ll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,
To die upon the hand I love so well.
Exit HELENA
oberon Fare thee well, nymph²⁶: ere he do leave this grove,
Thou shalt fly him, and he shall seek thy love.²⁷
Enter PUCK
Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.
puck Ay, there it is.
oberon I pray thee give it me.
With the juice of this I’ll streak Titania’s eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantasies.
Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove:
A sweet Athenian lady²⁸ is in love
With a disdainful youth:²⁹ anoint his eyes,
But do it when the next thing he espies
May be the lady. Thou shalt know the man
By the Athenian garments he hath on.
puck Fear not, my lord; your servant shall do so.
Exeunt

Scene Two
The wood.
Enter TITANIA with her FAIRIES
titania Come, sing me now asleep.
The FAIRIES sing.
fairies You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-worms³⁰, do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen.
TITANIA sleeps
      Exeunt all FAIRIES but one.
Enter OBERON, invisible, who squeezes the juice on TITANIA’S eyelids.
oberon What thou seest when thou dost wake,
Do it for thy true love take.
Enter LYSANDER and HERMIA
lysander Fair love, I have forgot our way. We’ll rest us.
hermia Be it so, Lysander; find you out a bed,
For I upon this bank will rest my head.
lysander (lying down near her)
One turf shall serve as pillow for us both;
One heart, one bed, two bosoms, and one troth.³¹
hermia (preserving her modesty)
Nay, good Lysander; for my sake, my dear,
Lie further off yet, do not lie so near.
LYSANDER reluctantly lies down further away.
The blow each other kisses, then fall asleep.
      Enter PUCK, searching for Helena and Demetrius, with the flower juice.
puck This is he my master said
Despised the Athenian maid:
And here the maiden, sleeping sound,
On the dank and dirty ground.
He places drops on LYSANDER’S eyelids.
Enter DEMETRIUS running, with HELENA after him.
helena Stay, though thou kill me, sweet Demetrius.
demetrius I charge thee hence, and do not haunt me thus.
      Exit DEMETRIUS
HELENA But who is here? (noticing LYSANDER, but not HERMIA)
Lysander on the ground!
Dead or asleep? I see no blood, no wound.
(shaking him) Lysander, if you live, good sir, awake!
lysander (waking and falling instantly in love with Helena)
And run through fire I will for thy sweet sake!
Not Hermia, but Helena I love:
Who will not change a raven for a dove?
helena O, that a lady of one man refused
Should of another therefore be abused!³²
Exit
lysander She sees not Hermia.
(to the sleeping HERMIA) Hermia, sleep thou there;
And never mayst thou come Lysander near!
(to himself) And, all my powers, address your love and might
To honour Helen, and to be her knight.
Exit
hermia (waking from a nightmare) Help me, Lysander, help me!
(noticing LYSANDER has gone)
Lysander! What, removed? Lysander! Lord!
What, out of hearing? Gone? No sound, no word?
No? Then I will perceive you are not nigh.³³
Either death or you I’ll find immediately.
Exit

ACT THREE
Scene One
TITANIA sleeps. Enter QUINCE, SNUG, BOTTOM, FLUTE, SNOUT and STARVELING
BOTTOM Are we well met?³⁴
quince Pat, pat³⁵; and here’s a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal.
quince We must have a wall in the great chamber; for Pyramus and Thisbe, says the story, did talk through the chink of a wall.
snout You can never bring in a wall. What say you, Bottom?
bottom Some man or other must present Wall; and let him hold his fingers thus; (he makes a V to demonstrate) and through that cranny shall Pyramus and Thisbe whisper.
quince If that may be, then all is all.³⁶ Pyramus, you begin; when you have spoken your speech, enter into that brake.³⁷

Enter PUCK behind
puck What hempen home-spuns³⁸ have we swaggering here,
So near the cradle of the fairy queen?
What, a play toward? I’ll be an auditor.³⁹
quince Speak, Pyramus. Thisbe, stand forth.
bottom (as Pyramus) Thisbe! Thisbe!
      Exit behind. PUCK follows.
puck A stranger Pyramus than e’er played here!
flute Must I speak now?
quince Ay, marry, must you.
flute (as Thisbe) Most radiant Pyramus, most lily-white of hue,
Of colour like the red rose on triumphant briar,
As truest horse, that yet would never tire.
I’ll meet thee, Pyramus, at Ninny’s tomb.
quince (exploding with anger) ‘Ninus’ tomb’, man! You speak all your part at once, cues and all. Pyramus, enter: your cue is past; it is ‘never tire.’
flute O, (repeating his last line) - As true as truest horse, that yet would never tire.
Re-enter BOTTOM wearing an ass’s head. PUCK follows.
bottom (as Pyramus but unaware of the ass’s head)
If I were fair, Thisbe, I were only thine.
quince O monstrous! O strange! We are haunted; pray, masters, fly! Masters, help!
Exeunt all but Bottom
bottom Why do they run away?
Enter QUINCE
QUINCE Bless thee Bottom, bless thee! Thou art translated!⁴⁰
Exit QUINCE
BOTTOM I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me, to fright me. I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid.
(singing) The ousel cock, so black of hue,
With orange-tawny bill -
TITANIA wakes and sees BOTTOM with his ass’s head
titania What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?
bottom (singing under) The throstle with his note so true,
The wren with little quill –
titania (interrupting) I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again;
Thy fair virtue’s force perforce doth move me
On the first view, to say, to swear, I love thee.
bottom Methinks, mistress, you should have little reason for that.
titania Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful.
titania (calling) Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed!
Enter four fairies: PEASEBLOSSOM, COBWEB, MOTH and MUSTARDSEED.
PEASEBLOSSOM Ready.
cobweb And I.
MOTH And I.
MUSTArdseed And I.
all four fairies Where shall we go?
titania (indicating BOTTOM) Be kind and courteous to this gentleman.
peaseblossom Hail, mortal!
cobweb Hail!
moth Hail!
mustardseed Hail!
titania Come, wait upon him, lead him to my bower.
(BOTTOM unwittingly makes a noisy bray)
Tie up my love’s tongue, bring him silently.
Exeunt

Scene Two
Another part of the wood.
Enter OBERON
OBERON I wonder if Titania be awaked.
Enter PUCK
Here comes my messenger. How now, mad spirit!
puck A crew of patches⁴¹, rude mechanicals⁴²,
Were met together to rehearse a play
Intended for great Theseus’ nuptial-day.
The shallowest thick-skin of that barren sort,
Who Pyramus presented, in their sport
Forsook his scene and entered in a brake⁴³;
When I did him at this advantage take,
An ass’s nole I fixed on his head.⁴⁴
When in that moment, so it came to pass,
Titania waked, and straightaway loved an ass.
oberon This falls out better than I could devise.
But hast thou yet latched the Athenian eyes⁴⁵
With the love-juice, as I did bid thee do?
puck I took him sleeping – that is finished too⁴⁶ -
Enter DEMETRIUS and HELENA
OBERON Stand close: this is the same Athenian.
PUCK This is the woman, but not this the man.
demetrius (still in love with Hermia)
O, why rebuke you him that loves you so?
hermia If thou hast slain Lysander kill me too.⁴⁷
demetrius I am not guilty of Lysander’s blood;
Nor is he dead, for aught that I can tell.
hermia (calling) Lysander! Alack where are you?
Exit
demetrius There is no following her in this fierce vein.
He lies down to sleep.
oberon Thou hast mistaken quite,
And laid the love-juice on some true-love’s sight.⁴⁸
About the wood go swifter than the wind,
And Helena of Athens look thou find.
By some illusion see thou bring her here;
I’ll charm his eyes against she do appear.⁴⁹
puck I go, I go, look how I go!
Swifter than arrow from the Tartar’s bow⁵⁰.
Exit
      OBERON squeezes the juice on DEMETRIUS’s eyes
Re-enter PUCK
PUCK Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
And the youth, mistook by me.
Shall we their fond pageant see⁵¹?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
      They stand aside.
Enter LYSANDER and HELENA
lysander I had no judgement when to Hermia I swore.⁵²
helenA Nor none, in my mind, now you give her o’er.⁵³
DEMETRIUS (waking and falling in love with HELENA)
O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect divine!
helena O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent
To set against me for your merriment.
You both are rivals, and love Hermia;
And now both rivals, to mock Helena.
lysander You are unkind, Demetrius; be not so;
For you love Hermia; this you know I know.
demetrius Lysander, look where thy love comes; yonder is thy dear.
Enter HERMIA relieved to find Lysander alive.
HERMIA Lysander, why unkindly didst thou leave me so?
lysander Why should he stay whom love doth press to go?
hermia What love could press Lysander from my side?
lysander Fair Helena.
My love, my life, my soul, fair Helena!
heRMIA (to HELENA) You canker-blossom⁵⁴, you thief of love! What, have you come by night and stolen my love’s heart from him?
helena Fie, fie, you counterfeit, you puppet, you!
hermia Puppet? Why so!
Because I am so dwarfish and so low?
How low am I? I am not yet so low
But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes.
helena (scared of a fight, and turning to the boys for help)
Let her not strike me: you perhaps may think,
Because she is something lower than myself,
That I can match her.
hermia ‘Lower’! hark, again!
      HERMIA struggles fiercely to free herself from LYSANDER and get at HERMIA
helena Though she be but little, she is fierce.
hermia ‘Little’ again? Nothing but ‘low’ and ‘little’?
Let me come to her!
lysander Get you gone, you dwarf,
You minimus, you bead, you acorn.
HERMIA struggles free and chases HELENA off stage.
(still keen to challenge DEMETRIUS to a fight)
Now follow, if thou dar’st, to try whose right,
Of thine or mine, is most in Helena.
demetrius Follow? Nay, I’ll go with thee cheek by jowl.
Exeunt
OBERON and PUCK come forward.
puck Believe me, king of shadows, I mistook.
oberon Thou seest these lovers⁵⁵ seek a place to fight.
Lead these testy rivals so astray
As one come not within another’s way.
Till o’er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep⁵⁶;
Then crush this herb⁵⁷ into Lysander’s eye.
When they next wake, all this derision
Shall seem a dream, and fruitless vision.
puck My fairy lord, this must be done with haste.
Exit OBERON
(searching for the rivals)
Up and down, up and down,
I will lead them up and down –
Here comes one.
Enter LYSANDER
lysander Where art thou, proud Demetrius?
puck (hiding and pretending to be Demetrius in order to get him to follow)⁵⁸ Here, villain! Follow me to plainer ground.
Exit LYSANDER in pursuit of the false Demetrius.
Enter DEMETRIUS
demetrius Lysander! Where dost thou hide?
puck (emerging and hiding again, as he pretends to be Lysander in order to lure him in the opposite direction) Follow my voice; we’ll try no manhood here.⁵⁹
      Exit DEMETRIUS in pursuit of the false LYSANDER
Re-enter LYSANDER, exhausted with running
LYSANDER The villain is much lighter-heeled than I:
I followed fast, but faster did he fly,
That fallen am I in dark uneven way,
And here will rest me.
He lies down and sleeps.
Re-enter, in a different space, an exhausted DEMETRIUS. He cannot see LYSANDER.
demetrius Faintness constraineth me.⁶⁰
By day’s approach, Lysander, look to be visited.⁶¹
He lies down and sleeps.
Enter HELENA, exhausted. She cannot see the others.

helena O weary night, o long and tedious night.
She lies down and sleeps.
puck Yet but three? Come one more.
Two of both kinds makes up four.
Enter HERMIA, exhausted. She fails to see the others.
hermia Heavens shield Lysander, if they mean a fray!⁶²
She lies down and sleeps.
puck I’ll apply
To your eye
Gentle lover, remedy.
(he squeezes the antidote on LYSANDER’S eyes)
The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well.
Exit

ACT FOUR
Scene One
The same place.
Enter TITANIA and BOTTOM with the FAIRIES attending, and OBERON, behind, unseen.
titania Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed,
      While I thy amiable cheeks do coy.⁶³
bottom I must to the barber’s, for methinks I am marvellous hairy about the face.
titania O say, sweet love, what thou desirest to eat.
bottom Methinks I have a great desire to a bottle of hay: good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow.⁶⁴ (braying as he yawns) But I pray you, let none of your people stir me; I have an exposition of sleep come upon me.
titania Sleep thou, (putting her arms lovingly around him) and I will wind thee in my arms.
Fairies, be gone, and be all ways away.
Exeunt FAIRIES
O, how I love thee! How I dote on thee!
They both sleep.
Enter PUCK
OBERON Welcome, good Puck⁶⁵: seest thou this sweet sight?
Meeting her of late behind the wood,
I did ask of her her changeling child;
Which straight she gave me.
And now I have the boy, I will undo
This hateful imperfection of her eyes.⁶⁶
He touches TITANIA’s eyes with the antidote.
TITANIA wakes and rises.
titania My Oberon! Methought I was enamoured of an ass.
oberon (indicating BOTTOM) There lies your love.
titania O, how mine eyes do loathe his visage now!
oberon Silence awhile. Puck, take off this head.
puck (to BOTTOM, removing the ass’s head) Now, when thou wak’st, with thine own fool’s eyes peep.

Exeunt OBERON, TITANIA and PUCK, leaving the four lovers and BOTTOM still asleep.
Sfx. hunting horns.
Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, EGEUS and attendants.
egeus (noticing HERMIA) My lord, this is my daughter here asleep,
And this Lysander, this Demetrius is,
This Helena;
I wonder of their being here together.⁶⁷
theseus Is not this the day
That Hermia should give answer of her choice?
egeus It is, my lord.
Sfx. loud hunting horns which wake the lovers
theseus Good morrow, friends.
lysander Pardon, my lord.
The lovers scramble to their knees before THESEUS
theseus I pray you all, stand up.
lysander (waking, and, on account of the antidote, forgetting everything, and putting his hand out to HERMIA’s)
My lord, I cannot truly say how I came here.
I came with Hermia hither: our intent
Was to be gone from Athens –
egeus (interrupting) Enough, enough, my lord.
demetrius (taking HELENA’s hand)
The object and the pleasure of mine eye,
Is only Helena. To her, my lord,
Was I betrothed ere I saw Hermia.
theseus Fair lovers, you are fortunately met;
Egeus, I will overbear your will,⁶⁸
These couples shall eternally be knit.⁶⁹
Away with us to Athens; three and three,
We’ll hold a feast in great solemnity.
Come, Hippolyta.
Exeunt all but Bottom, still asleep.
bottom (waking and believing he’s still in rehearsal for the play)
When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer. God’s my life! I have had a most rare vision. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream; it shall be called ‘Bottom’s Dream’, because it hath no bottom.
Exit

Scene Two
Athens.
Enter QUINCE, FLUTE, SNOUT and STARVELING.⁷⁰
quince Have you sent to Bottom’s house? Is he come home yet?
Enter SNUG
SNUG Masters! The Duke is coming from the temple, and there is two or three lords and ladies more married.
flute O sweet bully Bottom! If he come not, then the play goes not forward.
Enter BOTTOM
BOTTOM Where are these lads?
quince Bottom! O, most happy hour!
bottom Masters, the Duke hath dined. Get your apparel together - our play is preferred.⁷¹
Exeunt
ACT FIVE
Scene One
Athens
Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, in wedding dress, PHILOSTRATE and attendants
hippolyta ’Tis strange, my Theseus, that these lovers speak of.⁷²
theseus More strange than true.
Enter LYSANDER and HERMIA, DEMETRIUS and HELENA also in wedding dress.
theseus Come now, what revels are in hand?
philostrate (hoping to cancel the play)
A play there is, my lord, some ten words long,
But by ten words, my lord, it is too long.
theseus I will hear that play. Go bring them in.
Exit PHILOSTRATE and re-enter with SNOUT, as wall.
SNOUT I, one Snout by name, present a wall:
And such a wall, as I would have you think,
That had in it a crannied hole or chink,
Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe,
Did whisper often, very secretly.
The lovers laugh.
theseus Pyramus draws near the wall; silence.
Enter BOTTOM, as Pyramus
BOTTOM O thou O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall,
Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.
SNOUT holds up his fingers in a V shape.
Thanks, courteous wall.
But what see I? No Thisbe do I see.
Cursed be the stones for thus deceiving me!
Enter FLUTE, as Thisbe
flute O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans,
My cherry lips have often kissed thy stones.
bottom I see a voice; I can hear my Thisbe’s face.
Thisbe!
flute My love! Thou art my love, I think.
bottom Wilt thou at Ninny’s tomb meet me straightaway?
flute I come without delay.
Exeunt BOTTOM and FLUTE
Enter SNUG as lion and STARVELING as moonshine.
      Re-enter FLUTE, as Thisbe
FLUTE This is old Ninny’s tomb. Where is my love?
snug (a pathetic roar) Oh-h-h!
FLUTE runs off dropping her cloak.
SNUG worries the cloak then exits.
Enter BOTTOM, as Pyramus
BOTTOM (to STARVELING)
Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny beams.
(noticing Thisbe’s torn cloak)
What dreadful dole⁷³ is here?
Eyes, do you see?
How can it be?
O dainty duck! O dear!
Thy mantle good,
What! Stained with blood?
hippolyta I pity the man.
bottom (drawing his sword and stabbing himself)
Thus die I, thus, thus, thus!
Now am I dead,
Now am I fled;
My soul is in the sky.
Tongue, lose thy light,
Moon, take thy flight!
Exit STARVELING
Now die, die, die, die, die.
Enter FLUTE, as Thisbe
FLUTE Asleep, my love?
What, dead, my dove?
O Pyramus arise!
(picking up the sword)
Farewell, friends;
Thus Thisbe ends:
She stabs herself and dies.
theseus Moonshine and Lion are left to bury the dead.
demetrius Ay, and Wall too.
bottom (leaping up from his death bed and coming out of character)
No, I assure you, the wall is down. Will it please you to see the epilogue?
theseus No epilogue, I pray you.
(music strikes up)
Lovers, to bed; ’tis almost fairy time.⁷⁴
Sweet friends to bed.
Exeunt all
Enter PUCK with a sweeping brush.
Enter OBERON and TITANIA and the FAIRIES, also with brooms.⁷⁵
OBERON Now until the break of day,
Through this house each fairy stray.
(indicating TITANIA will go with him)
Trip away, make not stay;
Meet me all by break of day.
Exeunt all but Puck
puck If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here,
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream.

THE END