Join Muscatine Community College for the Speakers Bureau presentation “Response to Coop, the Story of an Amish Conscientious Objector” by Mary Swander.

Mary Swander will discuss her writing process and the research that went into her new drama called Coop. She will explain object theatre and why she embraced it for this work. She will recount how she got the original idea for the show and the choices she made to bring the story to the stage, how both the set and the script were an act of discovery. She will also provide background on the Amish and the history of their stance of non-violent resistance throughout their history. The bulk of the play was mainly drawn from fictionalized oral histories from the Kalona area. Swander will discuss her connection to her neighbors and the help they provided, including the Mennonite quartet who sang the hymns in the show. Audience members may ask questions or relate their own personal or family C.O. experiences.