Rip Russell in “Squatters on Red Earth" at St. Ambrose University -- August 24.
Saturday, August 24, 7 p.m.
St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center, 2101 North Gaines Street, Davenport IA
A special theatrical event that explores the positive relationship that Iowa's Amana Colonies have had with the Meskwaki Indigenous people, the one-man drama Squatters on Red Earth enjoys a one-night-only staging in the Galvin Fine Arts Center of Davenport's St. Ambrose University on August 24, this tale of a peaceful encounter in the midst of the U.S. white settler land grab the latest stage work by former Poet Laureate of Iowa Mary Swander.
As details in Squatters of Red Earth, 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. Meanwhile, the U.S. government enacted policies to displace Indigenous peoples throughout the United States, forcing them to take up European methods of farming. For years, the Inspirationalists and the Meskwakis have each struggled to hold their center in the midst of the outside pressures of capitalism and colonialization.
Boasting an accompanying musical score and a crankie (an old medieval puppetry device), Squatters of Red Earth is a one-man touring show featuring actor Rip Russell as directed by Brant Bollman. Its music was composed and performed by Laura Hudson Kittrell, with the show's costumes designed and created by Michele Payne Hinz, the set design by Shelley Buffalo, and the puppets crafted by Monica Leo. The production was made possible by the support and encouragement from: The Anon Was a Woman Environmental Art Award (New York Foundation for the Arts); a grant from the State of Iowa Historical Society; Meskwaki Settlement School; Ecoartspace; AgArts; and the Iowa Writers Collaborative.
The former Poet Laureate of Iowa, Swander has published scores of books of poetry and nonfiction, as well as essays, magazine articles, individual poems, and radio commentaries in such places as National Public Radio, The Nation, The New York Times Magazine, and Poetry Magazine. She is best known for her poetry book Driving the Body Back and for her memoirs Out of this World and The Desert Pilgrim. An emerita Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Swander taught creative writing for 30 years at Iowa State University and was a visiting writer-in-residence at Interlochen Arts Academy, the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Alabama. She now gives workshops on poetry, nonfiction, and playwriting, as well as farmland transition, for other colleges and universities and nonprofit organizations, and Swander received her own M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop.
Squatters on Red Earth will be presented in St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center on August 24, free-will donations are encouraged for the 7 p.m. performance, and more information is available by calling (563)374-1092 and visiting CHMIowa.org.
