FORTUNATELY for the actors in the Oxford Stage Company's production of Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, the audience showed incredible patience.
Given the randomly overheard comments during the first interval of: "I just don't understand", "I'm totally confused", and the general air of bewilderment, it was incredibly surprising the house was semi-full at the end of the evening.
Ms Churchill's play, which is a black comedy set in the 1980s reflecting women's ideals through history and the thrusting Thatcher years, aims to shock but lacks the substance to back up the sentiment.
Halfway through the first act, which featured the characters sitting around a revolving circular dinner table, one realised why the programme came in the form of a book of the script.
The dinner party made up of unusual historical female figures included some sharp and satirical social comments but many of the lines were buried as the table revolved and the actor's backs were turned to the audience.
Which was a shame, because this was one of the most interesting acts in the play.
Difficult to follow at the best of times, given the script-dictated interruptions and talking over each other between each of the six characters, this act was just far too uneasy on the ears - particularly during the Japanese concubine, Lady Nijo's (Helen Anderson) contributions.
As the safety curtain fell, sighs of relief and bemused looks towards friends and partners spread across the theatre.
Then along came the 1980s music, and act two which was set in a recruitment office.
Things seemed to be getting better at this point, in terms of accessibility, the acting was also much more on-the-ball.
As in act one the central character of the recruitment agency boss Marlene (Hattie Ladbury) - who was also the host of the previous act's dinner party, held the piece together and brought the greatest life to the lines.
But the reprieve was short lived and as we worked our way through scene two - featuring conversations between Marlene's weird niece (Pascale Burgess), her friend, and Marlene's sister - it seemed likely that yet more of the audience might flee during the next interval.
The use of obscenities both visual and verbal in this scene was particularly unpleasant. Especially as they added nothing to the plot or understanding of the characters.
Then on to another much- needed interval, followed by the final act.
Ms Ladbury again helped to pull things together among a mishmash of accents from stage sister, Ms Anderson, and niece, Ms Burgess.
But no amount of good or average acting could save the inevitable rant about the class system and the working class from being entirely predictable and depressing.
The curtain fell, and the audience applauded an end to the confusion.
Jenny Clarke