A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta.  One subplot involves a conflict among four Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play which they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate the humans and are engaged in their own domestic intrigue. A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most popular and widely performed plays