En el pequeño reino de Euphrania, el Rey y su corte esperan ansiosos que el príncipe Eduard se case. Pero el joven quiere casarse por amor y no por obligación. Tras la muerte de su padre, Cenicienta se convierte, en su propia casa, en la criada de su madrastra y de sus hermanastras. Pero su hada madrina le ayudará en sus duras tareas domésticas y, además, conseguirá que asista a una fiesta en palacio y conozca al príncipe. Sin embargo, cuando la magia desaparece, la única prueba que Eduard tiene de la existencia de Cenicienta es un pequeño zapato de cristal con el que intentará localizarla.
Theseus, Duke of Athens, is going to marry Hyppolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Demetrius is engaged with Hermia, but Hermia loves Lysander. Helena loves Demetrius. Oberon and Titania, of the kingdom of fairies have a slight quarrel about whether or not the boy Titania is raising will join Titania's band or Oberon's, so Oberon tries to get him from her by using some magic. But they're not alone in that forest. Lysander and Hermina have there a rendezvous, Helena and Demetrius are there, too as well as some actors, who are practicing a play for the ongoing wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Due to some misunderstandings by Puck, the whole thing becomes a little bit confused...
The year is 1880. On the outskirts of the fictional small Scottish town of Levenford there stands a strange building, half cottage, half castle, embraced with thick stone walls. The townsfolk nickname the fortress "Hatter's Castle", for James Brodie, the man who built it. Brodie is a hatter who keeps the members of the family in fear and submission; he is brutal, arrogant, selfish and cruel. His wife, who has long been ailing, and his daughter Mary, are in awe of him. His son Angus, aged 15, alone dear to his heart, suffers under his love as the others suffer under his sternness.
