East Tennessean

Issue date: 11/17/08 Section: The Scene

From left: Sarah Shanks, Shannon Brown and Rebekah Shibao. [Click to enlarge]

Following the bra burnings of the 1960s, feminism surged in the 1970s and '80s. Despite the fact that it was born during this vociferous time, the folk-musical Quilters speaks quietly and humbly of the joys and pains, strengths and weak moments and everyday accomplishments of women through the lens of the pioneer women who were the backbone of America in its infancy. 
Do not fear, says Director Cara Harker. The performance of Quilters that opens Thursday in ETSU's Bud Frank Theatre, will not be a strident rendition of "I Am Woman … Hear Me Roar."
"One of the things I like about directing this play is its balance," says Harker, a faculty member in ETSU's Division of Theatre and Dance. "It certainly doesn't deny the role of man. In fact, the women [in the show] play men, but it is certainly woman-centered. It certainly focuses on the strengths of women, in motherhood, domestic life. 
"I think sometimes people hear 'feminism' and think, 'I am woman. Hear me roar. I don't need a man.' And I don't think this play says that." 
Using the visual element of 16 squares from a huge, multi-colored quilt that hangs as the backdrop of the soft-gray, tilted stage, Quilters does highlight the many facets of life through vignettes from the lives of more than 50 characters portrayed by a cast of seven women. Each square represents a piece of that lifelong puzzle - girlhood, marriage, childbirth, baptism, adoption, spinsterhood, death. 
Despite the depth of the subjects, the book by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek is not "a downer," Harker says.
"This play has a lot of movement," says Harker, a graduate of Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. "I like the way it jumps and changes so quickly. One scene is heavy and then in the next, you will be laughing. I like that balance." 
There's no dwelling on the downside of being a woman or the hardships of the pioneer life. "This show could easily turn into, 'We are women complaining about our struggle,' " Harker says. "It has been our goal to make sure they do not sound like they are just complaining about their situation. They instead are telling is how they have struggled and survived through trials and there is good in every situation." 

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