Mary Swander’s Coop – presented by KHOI Community Radio

Coop, A Story of an Amish Conscientious Objector: An object Theatre Drama by Mary Swander

The play is an enactment of true stories of conscientious objectors in WWI & WWII.

Sun., Jan. 18 | 2 p.m. | KHOI Studio C (622 Douglas Ave., Ames)

Seating is limited, doors open at 1:30 p.m. Suggested minimum donation of $10 at the door.

The play is produced by Swander Woman Productions, a theatre company that creates and tours dramatic performances based on food, farming, and the wider rural environment.

Mary Swander’s new play Coop is historical fiction, an enactment of true stories of Amish, Mennonite, and other conscientious objectors during WWI and WWII. The core story is taken from the oral history of a young Amish farmer draftee who boarded a train with other C.O.s—Mennonites, Quakers, Church of the Brethren, and Seventh Day Adventists–during World War II. This group of C.O.s, told they were bound to fight forest fires in Colorado, were interned instead in a chicken coop. There, they remained under guard for the rest of the war.

We are all aware of the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, but few dramas have brought the story of Amish/Mennonite and other conscientious objectors to the world stage. Many C.O.s were treated with decency and respect during these war years, but others suffered humiliation, torture, and even death at the hands of both townspeople and the military. The Amish/Mennonite population was targeted for its fluency in the German language and their staunch refusal to kill others in war. They were thought to be naïve about the war effort, given their isolation on their farms in the rural United States.