The action takes place in Athens. The ruler of Athens bears the name of Theseus, one of the most popular heroes of ancient legends about the conquest of the warlike tribe of women by the Greeks - the Amazons. The queen of this tribe, Hippolytus, and Theseus marries. The play, apparently, was created for a performance on the occasion of the wedding of some dignitaries.

Preparations are underway for the wedding of the Duke of Theseus and the Queen of the Amazons Hippolyta, to be held on the night of the full moon. To the duke's palace is the enraged Aegeus, father of Hermia, who accuses Lysander of bewitching his daughter and insidiously making her fall in love with her, while she is already promised to Demetrius. Germany confesses her love for Lysander. The Duke announces that according to Athenian laws she must obey her father’s will. He gives the girl a reprieve, but on the day of the new moon she will have to "either die / For violating her father’s will, / Ile to marry the one he chose / Ile to give forever at the altar of Diana / Vow of celibacy and harsh life." The lovers agree to flee together from Athens and meet the next night in a nearby forest. They open their plan to a friend of Hermia Elena, who was once the beloved of Demetrius and still loves him passionately. Hoping for his gratitude, she is going to tell Demetrius about the plans of the lovers. In the meantime, a company of rustic craftsmen is preparing to stage an interlude on the occasion of the Duke's wedding. The director, carpenter Peter Pigwa, chose a suitable work: "The old-fashioned comedy and the very cruel death of Pyram and Fisba." Weaver Nick Osnova agrees to play the role of Pyram, as, indeed, most other roles. Francis Dudka, the mending bellows repairman, is given the role of Fisba (in Shakespeare's time, women were not allowed on stage). Tailor Robin Zamorysh will be Fisba's mother, and the coppersmith Tom Rylo will be the father of Pyram. The role of Leo is entrusted to the carpenter Milyaga: he has “the memory of learning for learning”, and for this role you only need to growl. Pigwa asks everyone to memorize the roles by heart and come to the ducal oak tree for rehearsal tomorrow night.

In the forest near Athens, the king of fairies and elves Oberon and his wife Queen Titania are quarreling over a child whom Titania adopted, and Oberon wants to pick up to make him a page. Titania refuses to obey her husband’s will and leaves with the elves. Oberon asks the mischievous elf Peck (Good Little Robin) to bring him a small flower that Cupid's arrow fell on after he missed the "vestal reigning in the West" (a hint at Queen Elizabeth). If the sleeping man’s eyelids are smeared with the juice of this flower, then, waking up, he will fall in love with the first living creature that he sees. Oberon thus wants to make Titania fall in love with some wild animal and forget about the boy. Baek flies off in search of a flower, and Oberon becomes an invisible witness to the conversation between Elena and Demetrius, who is looking for Hermia and Lysander in the forest and with contempt rejects his former lover. When Paek returns with a flower, Oberon instructs him to track down Demetrius, whom he describes as a “haughty hanger” in Athenian robes, and to grease his eyes, but so that during awakening he will be surrounded by a beauty in love with him. Having discovered sleeping Titania, Oberon squeezes the juice of a flower on her eyelids. Lysander and Hermia got lost in the forest and also lay down to rest, at the request of Hermia - away from each other, because "for a young man with a girl the shame of men / Does not allow closeness ...". Peck, mistaking Lysander for Demetrius, drips the juice into his eyes. Elena appears, from whom Demetrius escaped, and stopping to rest, Lysander wakes up, who immediately falls in love with her. Elena believes that he taunts her and runs away, and Lysander, having abandoned Hermia, rushes after Elena.

Near the place where Titania sleeps, a company of artisans gathered for rehearsal. At the suggestion of the Fundament, which is very concerned that, God forbid, not to scare the female spectators, two prologues are written for the play - the first is that Pyram does not kill himself at all and he is not really Pyram, but the weaver Basis, but the second - that Leo is not a lion at all, but a carpenter Milyaga. The naughty peck, who watches the rehearsal with interest, enchants the Foundation: now the weaver has a donkey's head. Friends, taking the Basis for a werewolf, scatter in fear. At this time, Titania wakes up and, looking at the Foundation, says: “Your image captivates the eye <...> I love you. Follow me! ” Titania calls on the four elves - Mustard Seed, Sweet Pea, Spider Web and Moth - and orders them to serve "their sweet one." Oberon enthusiastically listens to Pack's story about how Titania fell in love with a monster, but is very unhappy to learn that the elf sprinkled magic juice into the eyes of Lysander, not Demetrius. Oberon euthanizes Demetrius and corrects the error of Pack, who, on the orders of his ruler, lures Elena closer to the sleeping Demetrius. As soon as he wakes up, Demetrius begins to swear on the love of the one that he recently rejected with contempt. Elena is convinced that both young men, Lysander and Demetrius, are mocking her: “There is no power to listen to empty ridicule!” In addition, she believes that Germany is at one with them, and bitterly reproaches her friend for insidiousness. Shocked by the rude insults of Lysander, Germany accuses Elena of being a liar and a thief who stole Lysander's heart from her. Word for word - and she is already trying to scratch Elena's eyes. Young people - now rivals seeking Elena's love - are retiring to decide in a duel which of them has more rights. Peck is delighted with all this confusion, but Oberon orders him to lead both duelists deeper into the forest, imitating their voices, and lead them astray, "so that they won’t find each other." When Lysander, exhausted, falls off his feet and falls asleep, Peck squeezes the plant sap on his eyelids - the antidotes to a love flower. Elena and Demetrius are also euthanized not far from each other.

Seeing Titania, who fell asleep next to the Base, Oberon, who by this time had already got the child he liked, pities her and touches her eyes with an antidote flower. The Fairy Queen wakes up with the words: “My Oberon! What can we dream about! / I dreamed that I fell in love with a donkey! ” Baek, by order of Oberon, returns the Foundation to his own head. The lords of the elves fly away. Hunting Theseus, Hippolytus and Aegeus appear in the forest. They find sleeping young people and wake them. Already free from the action of a love potion, but still stunned, Lysander explains that she and Hermia fled to the forest from the severity of the Athenian laws, Demetrius admits that "Passion, purpose and joy of the eyes are now / Not Germany, but dear Elena." Theseus announces that two more couples will be married today with them and Hippolyta, after which he leaves with his retinue. The awakened Main is sent to the house of Pigwa, where his friends are looking forward to it. He gives the actors the last instructions: “Fisba let him put on clean linen”, and let Leo not decide to cut his nails - they should look out from under the skin, like claws.

Theseus marvels at the strange story of lovers. “Crazy, lovers, poets - / All of the fantasies are created alone,” he says. The entertainment manager Philostratus presents him with a list of entertainment. The Duke selects a play by the artisans: "It can never be too bad / That devotion humbly offers." To the ironic comments of the audience, Pigwa reads the prologue. The snout explains that it is the Wall through which the Pyram and Fisba are talking, and therefore is smeared with lime. When the Base-Pyram searches for a gap in the Wall to look at her lover, the Snout helpfully spreads his fingers. Leo appears and in verse explains that he is not real. “What a meek animal,” Theseus admires, “and what a reasonable one!” Amateur actors shamelessly misinterpret the text and say a lot of nonsense, which greatly amuse their noble spectators. Finally the play is over. Everyone disperses - it is already midnight, a magic hour for lovers. Peck appears, he and the other elves first sing and dance, and then, by order of Oberon and Titania, fly around the palace to bless the newlyweds' beds. Peck addresses the audience: “Since I couldn’t amuse you, / It will be easy to fix everything for you: / Imagine that you fell asleep / And dreams flashed before you.”