An indigenous theater-maker journeys across geographic borders, personal history and cultural legacy in search of a place to belong. As the final production of its 2021/2022 “Homecoming” Season, Goodman Theatre presents the Woolly Mammoth Theatre production in association with Folger Shakespeare Library of Where We Belong—playwright/performer Madeline Sayet’s acclaimed solo piece, directed by Mei Ann Teo. “Through anecdotes with pathos and a playful charm (Sayet delivers a) wrenching meditation on appropriation, cultural genocide and how to best honor one’s ancestry” (The Washington Post) in a piece hailed as “heartfelt and eye-opening” (Free Lance Star). Where We Belong premiered in 2021 in a digital run at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.) in association with Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington, D.C.); the Chicago premiere at Goodman Theatre is part of a national tour, including Philadelphia Theatre Company, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Repertory Theater, The Public Theater and Folger Theatre at Folger Shakespeare Library. Where We Belong appears June 24 – July 24 in the 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre; opening night is Monday, June 27. Tickets ($15 - $45, subject to change) are available at Goodmantheatre.org/Belong or by phone at 312.443.3800.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Madeline Sayet to the Goodman, and offer our Chicago audiences the chance to experience this exhilarating work by an artist of extraordinary depth, insight and skill,” said Robert Falls, Goodman Theatre Artistic Director. “A gripping piece of theater, Where We Belong is an invitation to consider an important message about cultural histories. We embrace the opportunity that this play presents to begin our long-overdue journey to create an authentic relationship with Native artists, audiences and communities.”
In Where We Belong, Mohegan theater-maker Madeline Sayet travels to England in 2015 to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare. There, she 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. Sayet’s standby is Emily Preis; the design team includes Hao Bai (Production), Asa Benally (Costume), Erik Schilke (Original Composition and Sound), Vera Starbard (Dramaturgy), Liz Hayes (Dialect Coaching) and Judy Bowman (Casting). Broadway & Beyond Theatricals serves as Executive Producer.
"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 playwright/performer Madeline 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 red face 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."
Madeline Sayet is a Mohegan theater maker who believes the stories we pass down inform our collective possible futures. She serves as an assistant professor at Arizona State University with the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS, and is the Executive Director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP). She has been honored as a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, TED Fellow, MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow, National Directing Fellow, Drama League Director-In-Residence, NCAIED Native American 40 Under 40 and a recipient of The White House Champion of Change Award from President Obama. As a writer her plays include Where We Belong; Up and Down the River; Antigone or And Still She Must Rise Up; Daughters of Leda; The Neverland and The Fish (in development). Recent directing work includes Tlingit Christmas Carol (Perseverance Theatre); Midsummer Night's Dream (South Dakota Shakespeare); Henry IV (Connecticut Repertory Theatre); Whale Song (Perseverance Theatre); As You Like It (Delaware Shakespeare); The Winter’s Tale (Amerinda/HERE Arts); Poppea (Krannert Center, Illinois); The Magic Flute (Glimmerglass); Macbeth (NYC Parks); Miss Lead (59e59). www.madelinesayet.com
Mei Ann Teo is a queer immigrant from Singapore making theater & film at the intersection of artistic/civic/contemplative practice. As a director/devisor/dramaturg, they create across genres, including music theater, inter-medial participatory work, reimagined classics and documentary theater. Teo’s work has been in international festivals including Belgium's Festival de Liege, Edinburgh International Fringe, Beijing International Festival and Singapore Theatre Festival. They helmed Dim Sum Warriors the Musical by Colin Goh and Yen Yen Woo, composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Du Yun for a national 25-city tour in China. They have directed and/or developed new work at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Theatreworks Harford, Playwrights Realm, Goodman Theatre, Public Theater, Berkeley Rep (Ground Floor), Crowded Fire, History Theatre, Page 73, Musical Theatre Factory and the National Black Theatre. Recent work includes Jillian Walker’s world premiere SKiNFoLK: An American Show at the Bushwick Starr, Madeline Sayet’s Where We Belong at Shakespeare’s Globe and Woolly Mammoth and the North American premiere of Amy Berryman’s Walden at Theaterworks Hartford. Teo received the League of Professional Theatre Women’s Josephine Abady Award and is the Associate Artistic Director and the Director of New Work at Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES
Visit Goodman theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.
Touch Tour and Audio-Described Performance: Sunday, July 7, 12:30pm Touch Tour; 2pm performance – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset. NOTE: Touch Tours for the 2021/2022 Season will not have access to the stage due to current health and safety protocols, but will feature alternate pre-show sensory introductions.
Spanish Subtitled Performance: Friday, July 15 at 8pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in Spanish.
ASL-Interpreted Performance: Saturday, July 23 at 2pm – A professional American Sign Language interpreter signs the action/text as played.
Open-Captioned Performance: Sunday, July 24 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.
ABOUT THE PRODUCING ORGANIZATIONS
Woolly Mammoth creates badass theatre that highlights the stunning, challenging and tremendous complexity of our world. For over 40 years, Woolly has maintained a high standard of artistic rigor while simultaneously daring to take risks, innovate and push beyond perceived boundaries. One of the few remaining theatres in the country to maintain a company of artists, Woolly serves as an essential research and development role within the American theatre. Plays premiered here have gone on to productions at hundreds of theatres all over the world and have had lasting impacts on the field. Co-led by Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and Managing Director Emika Abe, Woolly is located in Washington, DC, equidistant from the Capitol Building and the White House. This unique location influences Woolly’s investment in actively working towards an equitable, participatory and creative democracy. Woolly Mammoth stands upon occupied, unceded territory: the ancestral homeland of the Nacotchtank whose descendants belong to the Piscataway peoples. Furthermore, the foundation of this city, and most of the original buildings in Washington, DC, were funded by the sale of enslaved people of African descent and built by their hands.
Folger Shakespeare Library is the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, the ultimate resource for exploring Shakespeare and his world. The Folger welcomes millions of visitors online and in person. It provides unparalleled access to a huge array of resources, from original sources to modern interpretations. With the Folger, you can experience the power of performance, the wonder of exhibitions and the excitement of path-breaking research. The Folger offers the opportunity to see and even work with early modern sources, driving discovery and transforming education for students of all ages.
The award-winning Folger Theatre in our nation’s capital bridges the arts and humanities through transformational performances and programming that speak inclusively to the human experience. Now under the leadership of Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels, Folger Theatre continues its legacy through exciting interpretations and adaptations of Shakespeare and expands the classical canon through cultivating today’s artists and commissioning new work that is in dialogue with the concerns and issues of our time. Folger Theatre thrives both on its historical stage and in the community, engaging audiences wherever they happen to be. During a multiyear building renovation, join the Folger online and on the road. Learn more at folger.edu.
ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE
Chicago's theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement.
Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.
Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.
As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Goodman Theatre’s Action Plan for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism and Access (IDEAA) was born out of the belief that progress means action, which includes building on the decades-long commitment to using art, assets and resources to contribute to a more just, equitable and anti-racist society.
Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.
Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Rebecca Gilman, Dael Orlandersmith, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Craig McCaw is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.