I walked into “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” expecting to dislike it - intensely. A Tom Robbins fan, I remember opening the book with great anticipation. I was puzzled by his writing about long thumbs, his streams of unending consciousness, and the characters that seemed to blend into each other. I had to put Sissy Hankshaw, the heroine, down, ready to be touched and ogled by someone else. The recent movie reviews promised low content and high meaningless four-letter word count, so I skipped it.

When I sat down Oct. 19 at Theater on the Square in Tacoma to see Book-It Repertory Theatre’s production of “Cowgirls” I did not expect much. But from that moment on I did not think about the important phone call or the faux pas I made at lunch. I was mesmerized by this live version of Sissy wielding her long, phallic thumbs around like guns ready for a shoot-‘em-up; giant protuberances that lead her through a hitchhiking adventure with an outrageous character at every turn.

And so the story goes: Sissy’s part-time occupation is modeling for The Countess (Brian Thompson), a transvestite with a fortune made in the vaginal perfume business. He hooks Sissy up with Julian (Chris Maslen), who sounds pretty intriguing since he is full-blooded Indian. Julian is pretty much a dud, though, because he stays in, embarrassed by The Thumbs.

The most admirable character is Sissy herself, who decides she will do whatever she wants with whomever she wants and spends the next few hours defending that right. The meal of the story takes place at the Rubber Rose Ranch, which is the largest all-women ranch in the whole nation. The ranch hands express themselves as they see fitting including lots of romping sex, most of it done off stage. However there is a love scene beautifully and delicately executed that ends in the nudity of both women. It is a shiver-sender (ooh la la) and swooning reverent moment all at once.

Sissy finds herself mystified and drawn to The Chink wisely placed at the top of the mountain. He looks like Nick Nolte adorned with a long, grey beard. Spouting off philosophy, The Chink is full of wisdom and himself at times.

Another strong novel ingredient of the production is the narrative that takes place to the side of the stage. Here two women seated and playing pieces of popular music compliment the acting going on. The one called Dr. Robbins narrates from the book and explains and punctuates the play. Wonderful.

There are no characters singled out in this review because I think to do so would be misleading. Everyone acted brilliantly. Everyone dressed the part, acted the part, and looked the part. And everyone owned the part they played. Kate Czaikowsky, who plays Sissy Hankshaw, was the star and deserves name calling for weaving this strong piece together. One of Czajkowski’s strengths is her laid-back take on Sissy. While the other characters are so animated they become cartoon-like at times, Sissy seems like she just walked onto the set from the audience talking to a friend. She does enthusiasm, empathy, sadness, desperation…well, just like Sissy.

Although “Cowgirls” has surprises all the way through, the biggest surprise for me was that I got a little choked up at the end, and I was not the only one. I do not really know why. I will bet The Chink knows.

“Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” plays Oct. 23, 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 26 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $22 and $34, available online at www.broadwaycenter.org; by calling (253) 591-5894 or (800) 291-7593; or at the Broadway Center Box Office, located at 901 Broadway.

This performance is for mature audiences only as it contains explicit adult language, sexual situations, full nudity and racial stereotyping.