He requests a prologue in "eight and eight" to reassure the ladies in the audience that he will not really die, and suggests 
He requests a prologue in "eight and eight" to reassure the ladies in the audience that he will not really die, and suggests that the man playing the lion should tell the ladies that he is really only a man pretending to be a lion.  He was in the wood in preparation for the Duke's wedding, but is subject to an embarrassment greater than his fellow tradesman.  He tries to claim all the parts in the play for himself, but in the end, the only part he plays is Pyramus.  FTP, name this Rude Mechanical in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the weaver who gets stuck in an ass' head.
He requests a prologue in "eight and eight" to reassure the ladies in the audience that he will not really die, and suggests that the man playing the lion should tell the ladies that he is really only a man pretending to be a lion.  
Nick Bottom