THEATER REVIEWS : ‘Elephant’: Only the Thick-Skinned Survive : The Alternative Repertory Theatre production finds four female homesteaders trying to make it against brutal odds.

Two contrary forces--metaphorical elephants and very real wolves--shape the psychic landscape of “Going to See the Elephant,” a frontier play set in Kansas not long after the Civil War.

These influences play almost as much of a role in the drama, which continues at the Alternative Repertory Theatre through Nov. 13, as the four female homesteaders trying to survive on the prairie against nature’s seemingly insurmountable odds.

The title, apparently a colloquial phrase of the period, is used in the dialogue as a metaphor for the curiosity that inevitably pushed wagon trains of settlers beyond the horizon. One of the women explains that “going to see the elephant” means “going over the hill . . . going to see the other side . . . going to see the wonders.”

Set against this irresistible tendency to explore are the myriad threats of the Kansas plains--among them brutal weather, disease, broken equipment, starvation, Indians, illusory ideals and, most persuasively evoked in this production through Gary Christensen’s striking sound design, fierce wolf packs on the prowl for any meal they can hunt down, be it cow or human.

Despite such elemental turbulence, “Elephant” is short on plot. It unfolds slowly in the first act, building momentum with exposition, character development and a compelling fascination with the homely details of pioneer life.

The action thickens in the second act as the underlying conflict between two of the women--the indomitable Maw (Laurie T. Freed) and the embittered Mrs. Nichols (Sally Leonard)--reaches an inexorable climax.

Well worth waiting for, their clash illuminates how opposite visions of life may result from similarly harrowing experiences and how vastly different the consequences can be for those who master their worst fears and heartbreaks, and those who do not.

Patricia L. Terry’s able direction of this richly textured 1982 play has many sensitive, well-conceived touches, not least Wilma Mickler-Sears’ apt costuming and a spare set by D. Silvio Volonte that evokes the makeshift conditions of 19th-Century homesteading. (The simple furnishings also enable the cast to move freely in the storefront theater’s intimate playing space.)

But the staging benefits even more from the authenticity of Freed’s performance as Maw, a woman of steely determination whose survival skills verge on the miraculous. Earthy, wise, brave and possessed of rare medical expertise, Maw sounds too good to be true. Were it not for the slight actress’s calm, rock-solid conviction, she might be.

A newcomer to the Alternative Repertory Theatre, Freed gives a straightforward reading that underplays the role but never flags and always avoids the pretense of mannered acting so easily detected in this theater’s close quarters.

Leonard, meanwhile, looks exactly right as Mrs. Nichols, the high-strung Easterner in a Victorian bustle and upswept hairdo better suited to a Boston drawing room than a Kansas cabin. Formally educated but unschooled for survival, Mrs. Nichols would wreak vengeance on the world, and especially her sick husband, for the folly of her frontier dreams.

As played by Leonard, an A.R.T. regular, the character properly earns our antipathy, although at too high a cost. Because Leonard has a penchant for telegraphing her feelings, we feel manipulated by her acting. That tends to extinguish our compassion for a woman whose devastating losses clearly are meant to be pitied.

Doreen Zetterlund carries much of the play as Maw’s daughter-in-law, Sarah, a mother herself and a survivor as well. Zetterlund’s acting could use seasoning, but she brings lots of sincerity to the role and gets by on that. Ditto for Kelly Shea, who invokes a sense of loneliness as Etta, a young bride-to-be kidnaped in childhood by Indians and later rescued by a troop of Custer’s soldiers. To its credit, “Elephant” does not demonize her captors, even while making clear that the trauma has left its mark on her.

Looi Goring’s lighting works effectively. But Christensen’s detailed sound design lends the production the sort of verisimilitude that Freed brings to Maw. The prairie echoes with life--the whir of the crickets, the bark of the family dogs, the howl of the wolves--surrounding us in the dark with the sensual embrace of total realism.

Although “Elephant” is billed as a tribute to women and launches “a season of women playwrights” at A.R.T., it actually reaches beyond that: It pays homage to the questing human spirit.

* “Going to See the Elephant,” Alternative Repertory Theatre, 1636 S. Grand Ave., Santa Ana. Thursdays to Saturdays, 8 p.m; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Nov. 13. $13.50-$16. (714) 836-7929. Running time: 2 hours.

Laurie T. Freed: Maw

Doreen Zetterlund: Sarah

Kelly Shea: Etta

Sally Leonard: Mrs. Nichols

An Alternative Repertory Theatre production. Created by Karen Hensel and Elana Kent (original writing and structure), Patti Johns (concept) and Sylvia Meredith, Elizabeth Lloyd Shaw, Laura Toffenetti and Johns (character development and dialogue). Directed by Patricia L. Terry. Produced by Kathleen A. Bryson. Scenic design: D. Silvio Volonte. Lighting design: Looi Goring. Costume design: Wilma Mickler-Sears. Sound and makeup design: Gary Christensen. Stage Manager: Jennifer M. Faux.