Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

In a comic prologue, one of the actors sadly proclaims that the comic muse is dying. He announces that a doctor has created medicine in the form of a comic play, and if the audience finds the play to be funny, then the muse will be healed. If the play is not found to be humorous, he will be paid no fee and the audience will be free to call him a quack. He steps aside, and the play begins.

Mrs. Hardcastle enters complaining to Mr. Hardcastle about the lack of excitement that life in the country affords, about how the mansion they live in looks like an inn rather than a home, and about how he keeps her from going into town to meet new people. She claims she is forced to make do with his old stories for entertainment...