The central character of the play is Lob, a man so old that no one can remember his ever being any younger. Lob has invited eight people to his home for the midsummer night experience in his magic woods. He is a fairylike character, small and seemingly superhuman in both his understanding of human nature and his communication with nature, as manifested in his magnificent garden. His very name, from English folklore, ties him to Shakespeare's sprightly fairy Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, whom his fellow fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream calls "a lob of spirits."

Lob has invited the eight guests to grant them a second chance at life.

Even Lob's butler Matey, although not an invited guest, fits into the group—he is in need of a second chance. The five women guests have discovered Matey stealing rings from the guests...