The game begins with Praxagora leaving the house on the Athenian street before dawn. She wears a fake beard and men's clothes, and she carries a cane and a lit lamp. A chorus of Athenian women enter one on one, all dressed in a similar costume. In order to be more convincingly courageous, some women developed tans and stopped shaving armpits. One woman brings a full basket of yarn in order to get the job done, as the assembly replenishes, to which Praxagora reports to her for this decision, as this will ruin their cover.