‘Quilters’ sewing together more than fabric

From staff reports
Published: September 9, 2008

From staff reports
From Thursday through Sunday, members of ShenanArts will be performing the Molly Newsman and Barbara Damashek production of “Quilters,” based on the book, “The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art,“ an oral history by Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Allen.
“Quilters” is more than a story about piecing shapes of fabric together. It is a story about a pioneer woman and her six daughters, weaving interrelated scenes together to create a mosaic of frontier life.
Of the 16 patches or blocks, each depicts its own unique story, illustrating life of women on the frontier: girlhood, marriage, childbirth, spinsterhood, tornadoes, fires, illness and death.
Though there are numerous characters portrayed within the musical, only seven women play all the parts. The cast is comprised of Lydia Freesen, Rebecah Freesen, Diane Kester, Kathy Lafon, Sonya Shaver, Erin Staebell and Linda Witt.
Mary Evans Lott directs the musical with Anne Wick Manes as music director and producers Susan Polly and Susan Vass.
Performance schedule is Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. General admission is $15 and the fee for students is $10. Tickets are available through the ShenanArts box office by calling 248-1868. Reservations are recommended because seating is limited. ShenanArts Stage4 Theatre is at 465 Lee Highway (Route 11), Verona.
“Quilters” is part of the monthlong area celebration of the cultural significance of quilts with exhibits held at the Artisan Center of Virginia, Waynesboro Heritage Museum, the Plumb House Museum, P. Buckley Moss Museum, Virginia Quilt Museum, Blue Ridge Community College, The Michael Tusing Gallery, Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia, Gallery 234, Mary Baldwin College’s Hunt Gallery, Rachel’s Quilt Patch, Beverley Street Studio School Gallery, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, The Children’s Art Network and the Staunton Augusta Art Center.