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ACT I - In the wood near Athens, dusk.

The chorus of Fairies are wandering in search of dewdrops for their queen Tytania when they are interrupted by Puck, the mischievous sprite loyal to Oberon, king of the elves.

Oberon enters with Tytania. The two quarrel over a handsome little page-boy whom the queen of the Fairies is unwilling to return to the king of the elves. Oberon meditates revenge and orders Puck to procure for him the magic herb whose juice, when squeezed onto the eyes of a sleeping person, makes him or her fall in love with the first person they see.

The two pairs of Athenian lovers enter: first Hermia and Lysander who swear eternal love to one another, then Demetrius who rejects Helena's love. Puck enters with the magic flower. Oberon tells him to squeeze the juice onto the eyelids of the reluctant lover Demetrius.

A group of uncouth theatre-loving artisans enter, to rehearse a performance to celebrate the marriage of Theseus, Duke of Athens. Enter Hermia and Lysander who have got lost in the wood. When they fall asleep in a glade, Puck by mistake spreads the magic nectar on Lysander's eyelids.

After a while Demetrius and Helena also enter, still squabbling. Helena, left alone, wakes Lysander who - under the effect of the potion - immediately falls in love with her. The Fairies return with their queen Tytania who, to the sound of a lullaby, falls asleep. Oberon squeezes the magic juice onto her eyelids.

ACT II - In the wood, night.

Tytania is sleeping. Enter the artisans, who start rehearsing their performance, with the intention of staging the tragic loves of Pyramus and Thisby. Puck continues his prank and transforms one of the amateur thespians - Bottom, the weaver - into a donkey, a metamorphosis which puts the rest of the company to flight.

Tytania wakes up, falls in love with the monster and proceeds to fondle and pamper it. Oberon is satisfied: his vengeance could not have had amore comical outcome. He gets very angry however when he discovers that Puck has poured the magic nectar onto the eyes of the wrong Athenian lover.

In an effort to sort out the ensuing mess, he intervenes personally to squeeze the juice onto the eyelids of the sleeping Demetrius who awakes when Helena arrives, followed by Lysander, and thus falls in love with the lady he had previously rejected.

Hermia also now appears and the situation ends up with Demetrius and Lysander challenging each other to a duel. Urged by Oberon, Puck puts a stop to this nuisance by getting the contenders to chase each other through the wood until they drop with exhaustion. He then squeezes the antidote onto Lysander's eyelids.

ACT III - In the wood, morning.

At dawn Oberon explains to Puck that he is beginning to feel sorry for the poor Tytania. He accordingly frees the queen of Fairies from his magic spell and restores to Bottom his normal human features. Oberon and Tytania make peace and go off stage dancing a saraband.

The two pairs of lovers also wake up again, this time in perfect harmony. Bottom gets up too, full of strange reminiscences. He quickly finds his companions again and goes off to Athens with them to celebrate the royal wedding with the performance of Pyramus and Thisby.

- Athens, in the ducal palace.

Theseus and Hippolyta, who are getting ready for the marriage celebrations, are delighted to receive the two pairs of lovers whose forth coming marriages they announce. And so everything is sorted out. The programme of celebrations gets under way with the rambling performance given by the artisans.

As midnight strikes, the Duke sends everybody off to bed. The time of the Fairies begins. The stage empties, but Oberon's and Tytania's followers reappear, including the cheeky little Puck, who closes the comedy by turning directly to the audience to ask for their applause.

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SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT THE OPERA is produced by:

Rosemary Allenbach,

Matthew Baird,

Neil Crory,

Matthew McFarlane,

and Grant Rowledge

Denise Ball is Executive Producer,

Bill Richardson is host

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