Squatters on Red Earth
Live Performances
August 24, 7:00 P.M.
Galvin Fine Arts Center, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa.
September 3, 7:00 P.M.
Hearst Center for the Arts, 304 West Seerley Blvd. Cedar Falls, IA.
MARY SWANDER PRESENTS: SQUATTERS ON RED EARTH
Tuesday, September 3 at 7:00 p.m
Sponsored by Friends of the Hearst
Actor, Rip Russell; Director, Brant Bollman; Music Composer, Laura Hudson Kittrell; Costume Designer, Michele Payne Hinz; Set Designer, Shelley Buffalo; Puppet Designer, Monica Leo. Squatters on Red Earth is a one-man touring play that explores the positive relationship that the Amana Colonies have had with the Meskwaki Indigenous people.
Synopsis: The Amana Inspirationists fled religious persecution in their homeland in Germany only to become part of the white settler land grab in the United States. The Inspirationists sought productive land hidden from the rest of the mainstream society in the Iowa River Valley where they encountered the Meskwakis and their long agricultural tradition. The two groups, both agrarian and communal with strong spiritual beliefs, managed to live together peacefully, with a mutual respect for the ecology and sacredness of the land.
“Squatters on Red Earth” play - Malvern, Iowa
November 7, 2024 , 6 - 7:30pm
The Art Church Iowa, 201 E. Fourth St., Malvern, Iowa
About: You are invited to watch this theatrical drama that explores the white settler grab from the Native Americans; the core story revolves around a peaceful encounter between the Meskwakis and the Inspirationists, a German Utopian group, all while the colonists were forcing the Natives from their land.
“Squatters on Red Earth” a play by Mary Swander and produced by Swander Woman productions, presents a more comprehensive history of the United States and the white settlers in the Midwest and West of America, and the ecological and agricultural systems that were in place before the white settlers arrived and how they compare to the present systems.
This drama is enacted through the use of a medieval puppetry device. Following the play, we will have a short group discussion as well as question-and-answer time with the playwright.
Cost: Free
When: Thursday, Nov. 7, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Art Church Iowa, 201 E. Fourth St., Malvern, Iowa
Questions/assistance contact: Angelyn Wang at angelynw@cfra.org or 402.870.1721.
Hosted by: The Center for Rural Affairs
Contact Angelyn Wang at angelynw@cfra.org or 402.870.1721 for arrangements with disabilities and/or persons with limited English proficiency (LEP).
All Center for Rural Affairs events and activities are open to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.
Mary Swander’s Buggyland is pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Follow our work on the IWC Sunday Round-Up:
Thrilled by this announcement of this important work! I hope those of us at a distance will see the play online soon. If I missed information that was in the post, I ask pardon. All the best to the playwright, actor, director and everyone involved in the production!