THEATER REVIEWS : Clarity Is History in Gabby, Frustrating ‘Top Girls’ : Cal State Fullerton’s unfocused staging and flawed acting weaken Caryl Churchill’s weighted-down feminist tract-tale even further.

Caryl Churchill’s “Top Girls” opens on a fantastic note. Women throughout history meet in a chi-chi restaurant to salute one of their own, a modern executive on the way up.

They’re happy for Marlene, who’s just been promoted to managing director of the Top Girls Employment Agency (Churchill offers Marlene as the symbolic apex of feminism, both with good and bad repercussions), but the gab always falls back on individual stories. The hardships of being a woman link this group, and times were tough no matter what century you’ve hung your hat.

At Cal State Fullerton, this first, rather long scene comes at you in a blur, a conflagration of hazy talk made hazier by uneven technique (the rough English accents are hard on the ear). Director Joseph Arnold’s student cast (all female) fails to bring adequate clarity to this crucial passage, or the rest of this gabby, often frustrating play.

Churchill, who can be thoughtfully, wonderfully surreal and satisfyingly vivid (think of “Cloud Nine”), lets the lecturer’s overarching need to make points weigh her down in “Top Girls.” There’s little involving drama in this feminist tract-tale, first produced in 1982.

At least there’s something of a tale. After the opening passage, Churchill takes a U-turn toward naturalism, focusing on Marlene in ‘80s London. Many of the actresses we first meet as Pope Joan (Joni Davis), Dull Gret (Kirsten Simone Vangsness) and Isabella Bird (Lesley Fera), among others, now take on other roles in a contemporary setting.

Marlene’s story is one of barbed give-and-take. This lovely career woman has gone very far in business, but she’s paid a dear price. We learn about the cost of her advancement later, as we learn a little about several tangential characters, their attitudes and lifestyles.

As for the performances, they reflect Arnold’s unfocused staging, which could use sharper pacing (at least keep the dialogue from colliding). When dealing with relatively obtuse creations, the audience depends on the actors to pull it through. This is especially obvious when trying to grasp the significance of Churchill’s double-decker role-playing.

There are fragments of resonance that give clues and draw us in, but really only the last scene--when and her sister, Joyce (Fera), hash out their mixed feelings for each other and the paths they’ve taken--brings acuteness to “Top Girls.” Augustin and Fera, who provide the production’s steadier performances, pull us through at least for a few moments.

* “Top Girls,” Cal State Fullerton, Performing Arts Center Recital Hall, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton. Wednesday-Saturday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 2:30 p.m. and Sunday, 5 p.m. Ends Sunday. $5-$8. (714) 773-3371. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes. Danielle Augustin: Marlene Amy R. Schaumburg: Waitress/Kit Lesley Fera: Isabella Bird/Joyce Lisa Hill: Lady Nijo Kirsten Simone Vangsness: Dull Gret/Angie Joni Davis Pope: Joan/Louise Martha Reinke: Patient Griselda Tracy Leigh Pugh: Jeanine/Shona CC Norlund: Win Wichasta Reese: Nell Deborah Chicurel: Mrs. Kidd

A Cal State Fullerton production. Play by Caryl Churchill. Directed by Joseph Arnold. Set by Richard Berentsen. Costumes by Juan Lopez. Lighting by Robert Wyatt. Makeup by Abel Zeballos. Sound by John R. Fisher.