Madeline Sayet's WHERE WE BELONG to Launch National Tour

Coming off the successful film adaptation of WHERE WE BELONG last summer, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in association with Folger Shakespeare Library is giving audiences around the country a chance to witness Madeline Sayet's deeply insightful solo show with a national tour of WHERE WE BELONG directed by Mei Ann Teo.

In WHERE WE BELONG, Mohegan theatre-maker Madeline Sayet travels to England in 2015 to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare. 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 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.

Woolly Mammoth's Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes shares, "I loved WHERE WE BELONG from the moment I encountered it. Madeline's personal history with our country's suppression of her Indigenous language and culture is heartbreaking, and her reflections strike an exquisite balance of delightful humor and painful truth. The journey she shares speaks directly to our current moment and what it means to belong in our increasingly complicated world. It's thrilling to finally be able to share it with audiences live and in-person around the United States."

"WHERE WE BELONG is an invitation to all of us to begin our journey to understand the real impact of colonization and erasure of Indigenous peoples and cultures," says Karen Ann Daniels, the Folger's Director of Programming and Artistic Director of Folger Theatre. "Madeline offers us her personal history as an entry point to engage learning as individuals, communities, and cultural institutions - we are proud to support this vital conversation."

WHERE WE BELONG, re-adapted for a live theatrical tour in October 2021 with Baltimore Center Stage, will now tour across the country. Philadelphia Theatre Company will launch the tour this April 2022, followed by stops this summer at Goodman Theatre and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and in the fall at Seattle Rep and The Public Theater. The WHERE WE BELONG tour is expected to continue through 2024 with additional cities added, including a final stop in winter 2024 at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. For booking information, contact Broadway & Beyond Theatricals.

Each theatre's commitment to the tour has been led by a desire to engage in authentic, continuous, long-term relationships with both the Indigenous nations whose land each presenting theatre occupies and the local Native community. These values are embodied in a Community Accountability Rider developed by playwright/performer Madeline Sayet with support from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

"I didn't want my story to be able to be used as a tokenistic way for theaters to check boxes, without actually changing their behavior," explains Sayet. "So we created an accountability rider to go with the show in order to ensure all the presenting theaters would commit to what I feel is the bare minimum commitment toward engaging with the Native peoples whose lands they occupy, and the history of our erasure in the 'American' theatre. Each presenting theater has agreed to never present redface again, develop an ongoing relationship with the Native peoples whose lands they occupy, offer free tickets to the show to all Native audiences, present work by local Native artists, and organize events supporting local language revitalization initiatives. It is my hope that these initiatives will lead to more Native stories being told, and, when done in tandem with the show, create awareness of some of the actual issues the piece is trying to address."

WHERE WE BELONG premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in London in 2019 as part of Border Crossings' ORIGINS Festival, the UK's only large-scale multidisciplinary festival of Indigenous arts and culture. While at Woolly Mammoth last season, Madeline adapted the original piece for the digital realm with Director Mei Ann Teo.

The WHERE WE BELONG national tour features production design by Hao Bai, costume design by Asa Benally, original composition and sound design by Erik Schilke, dramaturgy by Vera Starbard, dialect coaching by Liz Hayes, and casting by Judy Bowman. The tour is stage managed by Grace Chariya and has technical direction by Megan J. Coffel, with scenic drawing and rigging support by Miguel Valderrama, lighting consulting by Andrew Cissna, and makeup consulting by Dawn Newsome. The standby for Madeline Sayet will be Emily Preis. Broadway & Beyond Theatricals serves as Executive Producer and Booking Agency.

TOUR SCHEDULE

Philadelphia Theatre Company: April 15, 2022 - May 8, 2022

Goodman Theatre: June 24, 2022 - July 24, 2022

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival: August 13, 2022 - August 22, 2022

Seattle Rep: September 8, 2022 - October 9, 2022

The Public Theater: Fall 2022

Folger Theatre at Folger Shakespeare Library: Winter 2024

Tickets will be available on each of the presenting organizations' websites.

For more information or to book WHERE WE BELONG, visit: Broadway & Beyond Theatricals.

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