 In the play's first production one character was "aloof, cold, [and] precise" while the other "brought screwball comedy… warmth and color… playful[ness]".The different emphases and deliveries brought to the monologue two different meanings; "audiences found it hard to believe they heard the same monologue twice".Rather than tell his audience what words are supposed to mean, he opens them up for interpretation, presenting the idea that "meanings are not tethered to words like horses to hitching posts".