Indigenous Artist Madeline Sayet’s Approach to Theater & Social Activism
Madeline Sayet in Where We Belong
Madeline Sayet — director, writer, performer, and a 2021 WAA Native Launchpad artist — will soon begin a national tour of her autobiographical monodrama, Where We Belong, directed by Mei Ann Teo and produced by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, in association with the Folger Shakespeare Library.
In the play, Madeline, a Citizen of the Mohegan Tribe, shares her personal story of traveling to England back in 2015 to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare.
Madeline Sayet
“Madeline finds a country that refuses to acknowledge its ongoing role in colonialism, just as the Brexit vote threatens to further disengage the UK from the wider world. In this intimate and exhilarating solo piece, Madeline echoes a journey to England braved by Native ancestors in the 1700s following treatise betrayals – and forces us to consider what it means to belong in an increasingly globalized world,” outlines the playbill.
The play’s focus on themes of decolonization goes beyond the onstage performance and into a wider context; Madeline has created a Community Accountability Rider which participating venues must agree to. Among the rider’s conditions are the provision of complimentary tickets for Native audience members, a commitment against any programming featuring redface plus a public acknowledgement of any past instances of redface, and an agreement to create an authentic engagement plan to build relationships with the local Indigenous community.
“It is important to both Madeline Sayet and Woolly Mammoth that this tour not become its own colonial force, but rather encourage current relationship between theaters and the Native peoples whose land the theater occupies,” states the rider document.
The tour launches on April 15 at Philadelphia Theatre Company, where it will run for three weeks. Future tour stops this year include Chicago, New York, Seattle, and DC.
Read the Washington Post’s write up on the project here.
Learn more about Madeline here.
About the Native Launchpad Program
Native Launchpad is the cornerstone program of Advancing Indigenous Performance (AIP), Western Arts Alliance’s national initiative to create new touring and presentation opportunities for US-based Indigenous performing artists.
Native Launchpad helps create opportunity and sustainability for Indigenous artists through financial support, strategic promotion, networking, and career development. Applications for the 2022 cycle of the Native Launchpad program are open through April 27. Learn more.