The Taming of the Shrew — Act 0, Scene 1: Before an alehouse on a heath.

Outside an alehouse on a heath, the drunken Sly refuses to pay the Hostess for broken glasses and falls asleep. A Lord returning from hunting finds him and decides to make sport of him by treating him like a great nobleman when he wakes. He orders his servants to carry Sly to bed, dress the chamber richly, serve him music, food, and attendants, and convince him he is a lord who has only been mad. A troupe of players arrives, and the Lord welcomes them and asks them to help with the trick. He then sends for his page Bartholomew to be dressed as a lady and play Sly’s wife.