King Theseus has just captured the Amazon Queen Hippolyta in a war. He wants to marry her. She is not as keen on him.

Theseus’ friend Egeus is angry at his daughter Hermia. Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius, but she is in love with Lysander. Helena loves Demetrius, but he detests her. Theseus tells Hermia to accept her father’s choice.

That night, Hermia and Lysander run away into the woods. Demetrius and Helena follow them. They all get lost.

Meanwhile, Peter Quince and his friends the Mechanicals are rehearsing a play for Theseus’ wedding. It’s about a man (Pyramus), and a woman (Thisby), who die for love. Bottom wants to play all the roles.

On the night the humans go into the woods, Oberon, the King of the Fairies, and Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, are quarrelling. Titania has a Changeling, a human child made immortal. Oberon wants the boy for his servant, but Titania promised the boy’s mother she would raise him herself. The earth is suffering because of their quarrel.

Oberon already has a servant, the fun-loving Puck. To get revenge on Titania, Oberon gives Puck a magic flower. It can make you fall in love with any creature you see. Puck puts a monster’s head on Bottom, Titania, falls in love with Bottom.

Puck also uses the magic flower on the young lovers. Lysander suddenly falls in love with Helena, who thinks he is just pretending. Hermia gets very angry with Helena.

Oberon orders Puck to fix things so that Lysander loves Hermia again, and Demetrius loves Helena. He uses another magic flower to remove the spell from Titania. Bottom returns to the Mechanicals, and Oberon and Titania end their quarrel.

In the morning, Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus go for a walk in the woods, and find that Demetrius loves Helena. They decide this is a good way for things to end up, and they all go off to get married.

That evening, the Mechanicals perform their play. They are not perfect actors, but even so, their audience feels sad when they see the young lovers’ grief.

Late at night, the fairies enter the palace to bless the newly married couples. Puck asks the audience to imagine that the play is like a dream, and to clap lots at the end!