A word to the wise for all you budding quilters: It's not as easy as it looks. Like the quilts used in the production and hanging on the walls and from the ceiling of the theater lobby, Quilters has been put together by professionals, and they've created a work of art while making it look easier than it really is.

The musical, the last production of Geva's 2000-2001 season, tells the stories of American frontier women of the 1800s in vignettes divided into "blocks" and linked to a quilt pattern, such as "Double Wedding Rings" for the tales of courtship and marriage and "Baby's Blocks" for childbirth.

In songs, monologues, and scenes, the seven-member cast presents all the facets of female settlers' lives, showing, without self pity and without apology, and with a great deal of humor at times, how they survived in an untamed land.

Some stories are timeless. Daughters rediscovering their mother's quilt after she has passed on, the mock horrors of that pivotal moment when a young girl first encounters "the curse"/"gift from God", several girls all dreaming of the same handsome boy, a woman grappling with the option of abortion, and an older woman starting to become forgetful all ring true no matter what the time frame.

Other tales which illustrate the hardships of frontier life give a new appreciation for the comforts of the 21st century. Winters so cold that cattle drop dead in their tracks and people who die can't be buried until the weather breaks, women recounting giving birth to 12--or more--children before they reach their mid-thirties and losing several to miscarriage or illness, and an unstoppable prairie fire are only a few incidents that still the audience to stunned silence.

All the tales told in Quilters are drawn from several sources of frontier women's reminiscences; some are related verbatim in monologues, some are composits. Anyone who has read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder will recognize several key elements of frontier life, such as one-room schoolhouses, all children in a family sleeping in the same bed, long winters, and setting up housekeeping in a "dugout" house--walls erected of sod blocks cut out of the side of a hill.

There were obviously more than enough women's tales of the frontier to fill this play--and quite likely several more. If there is one criticism to be had, it's that at 16 "blocks", the play runs a bit longer than it should. Around Block 12, the audience began to fidget. All the stories are valid and worthy of inclusion, but perhaps some of the lesser moments in the first act, some of which were repeated to better effect later, could have been jettisoned to ensure the audience's attention all the way through to the end of the second act.

The cast of seven women, identified as a mother (strong and regal Laurie Kennedy) and "daughters"--their roles in the first and last scenes--all play multiple parts quite capably. They are ideally cast, with their seven voices blending perfectly in not only quality, but tone, to make performing the sometimes demanding music of the show seem, once again, easier than it actually is.

The actors all rise to the challenge of playing many different roles--children, spinsters, young women in love, old women, and even men--plus are as good at handling high comedy as high drama. (Kena Tangi Dorsey's monologue "The Sun Sets on Sunbonnet Sue" and Jacqui Miller's silent bully in the back row of the one-room schoolhouse are comedic standouts.) No weak links and never a low-energy moment in the entire play are testaments to these women's great talent.

Director Mark Cuddy's love for the production, with which he first became captivated 20 years ago, shows in his insightful direction which often enters the realm of choreography. He ensures that each vignette transforms seamlessly into the next, even when the tales situated back to back aren't necessarily easily related to one another.

Scene designer G.W. Mercier is to be commended for the minimalist set; the stage is bare except for a backdrop of planks giving the impression of a large barn. Trap doors are put to good use as a number of scenic elements, from a storm cellar to a hearth fire. The audience seemed particulary fascinated with the number of small holes in the stage which allowed the cast members to place and climb a freestanding ladder and set up a "windmill" and arbor in mere seconds.

The five musicians, which include local favorites the Dady Brothers, are present on the stage during the entire play, not only providing the accompaniment for the songs, but also the sound effects in several of the vignettes, and even playing small roles on occasion. The musicians also play traditional music in the lobby before the show; that made me wish for more traditional music in the play itself. Still, the original score manages to capture the flavor of music in the 1800s, adding another element to bring these women's stories to life.

An all-female cast, all women's stories...sounds like a "chick" play? It's not. Yes, the cast is entirely made up of women, but men are never "bashed". On occasion a cast member plays a male role, but never to mock men. Still, it is a woman's story, as it should be. And it's much more than a history lesson; it's a stirring testament to the strength of women in any era. Go see Quilters...and then try to deny your urge to start piecing together your own quilt.