The play opens with an Induction in which three child actors are fighting over who speaks the prologue. They draw straws and whosoever gets the shortest is to speak the prologue. When the shortest of the boys gets to speak, the other two try to stop his mouth.
The play proper begins, wherein Cynthia (also called Diana), an allegorical character representing Queen Elizabeth, has ordered revels in the valley of Gargaphie in Greece. On her announcement several mythical gods appear, like Cupid, god of love, and Mercury, the messenger god. Mercury has awakened Echo, who appears weeping for Narcissus – a man who had drunk of his spring and became vain and self-centered, obsessed with his own reflection. This myth of Narcissus's Spring draws on, and everybody present at the revels drinks from the same spring.
As the revels continue, a courtier named Asotus grows too bold with his drink and openly challenges the court to a game called "court compliment." They play the game and he beats every courtier present.
Two masques take place as the celebration grows bright. There is dancing, disguises, and people take part in the performances wearing masks. At the end of the masques, Cynthia orders that the players reveal their identities. Unmasking themselves, the performers reveal how the vices have masqueraded as virtues. Cynthia orders that these vices purify themselves by bathing in the spring at Mount Helicon.
