It isn’t easy to pack a theater in this economy, especially on a stuffy Monday evening in June. Yet the Waring Jones Theater at the Playwrights’ Center was packed to the gills for "Sister Stories," an evening of one-act musicals presented by Nautilus Music-Theater and performed by the sister team of Christina Baldwin and Jennifer Baldwin Peden.

What audiences get from "Sister Stories" is a solid and largely entertaining evening that, at times, digs deep into the heart and mind. As a different creative team writes each of the four one-act musicals, there are wide variances in quality and tone. Holding it all together are the tremendous talents of the Baldwins, who make you believe in these disparate sets of sisters.

The four pieces were developed and first performed in Nautilus’ Rough Cuts series between 2000 and 2004. The best pieces are sandwiched in the middle. In Jim Pyne’s and Leslie Ball's "Looking Glass Lake," the sisters are Hope and Nan, who are spending a late summer afternoon at the family cabin. Over the course of the work, we learn much about their complex relationship, which centers on Hope’s (Baldwin) wanderlust and Nan’s (Peden) desire to keep the family’s life stable and close by. The piece fills out the characters with considerable economy, with the sisters filling in the gaps. Peden is especially strong here, bringing to the surface all of the churning pain that the character has hidden for years.

In contrast, Ari Hoptman’s and George Maurer’s "So This Duck Walks into a Psychiatrist’s Office" is a complete, er, lark. The titular duck has long been the object of affection for two warring sisters and she (or he, the sisters could never decide) wants it to end. Here, Baldwin and Peden take two sort-of unsympathetic characters and make them, at the very least, fun to follow. The piece is loaded with humor -- and bad puns -- but also has enough heart to make it all work.

The other two pieces don't connect as well. Anne Dimock's and Becky Dale's "Fruit of the Family Tree" feels more like an opening scene than a complete work. Dominic Orlando’s and Robert Elhai's "Persephone’s Sister" is an obtuse retelling of the myth, involving paganism and Christianity and a sibling’s desire to save her sister. In the end, it's too obtuse, which keeps the characters too distant for emotional involvement. Even with these weaknesses, Baldwin and Peden create two more sets of distinct sisters.

By the end, the overstuffed evening does begin to wear (ending with "Persephone’s Sister" doesn’t help matters), but not before giving Baldwin and Peden chances to show their vocal and acting skills. Director Ben Krywosz makes the most of the intimate setting, and it all moves with a good pace. "Sister Stories" only runs for one more weekend, so here’s another example of a show that you will need to act quickly to see.

"Sister Stories" runs through June 28 at the Playwrights’ Center, 2301 Franklin Ave. E., Minneapolis. Tickets are $23 and $25. For tickets, call 1-800-838-3006 or go online.