Also, in
Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream,
Nick Bottom, the
weaver. He considers himself the world's greatest
amateur actor, and takes the role of
Pyramus, the tragic hero, in the workmen's play. He's a terrible
ham, and
Puck makes an
ass of Bottom by literally giving him the head of a donkey. Much fun and frolics ensue, involving a love potion. Read the play, or watch it, even better.
It is thought that in his portrayal of the rustic theatre of the workmen, Shakespeare was reminiscing about the
state of the art in his own youth.