Om the other hand, gleaner, many in Shakespeare's audience were illiterate (if not most). and in the common parlance of the day, the phrase was "To go hear a play" rather than "To go see a play." So I figure that his audience would grasp most of what they heard -- they'd certainly be leaps and bounds ahead of us, in understanding the jokes and puns (many of which referred to current politics of the day, which just whiz right over our heads; I often think, that if Shakespeare lived today, he'd be writing for Saturday Night Live).

And if the groundlings couldn't quite catch a line, they could always ask the person next to them, later, about: "what was that joke, when...?"