In Act 1, scene 2, we’re introduced to a group of Athenian workers, also referred to as the “rude mechanicals,” which means they’re workers who aren’t as refined as the upper-class people we met in the first scene of the play. There’s Peter Quince, the carpenter; Snug, the joiner; Nick Bottom, the weaver; Francis Flute, the bellows-mender; Tom Snout, the tinker; and Robin Starveling, the tailor.

They’ve all decided to practice a play in the hopes that it will be chosen for the entertainment at the wedding celebration for Theseus and Hippolyta. This meeting is to decide on the casting for a play called “The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe.” It’s a play about two lovers who die a tragic death.

Although Bottom tries to get himself cast for most of the parts, Quince insists that he only play Pyramus, the starring role. Flute will play Thisbe, Starveling will play Thisbe’s mother, Snout will play Pyramus’ father, Quince will play Thisbe’s father, and Snug will play a lion. Quince hands out the scripts and tells everybody the rehearsal plan.