Commissioned as Part of the "Play at Home" Initiative. Her play at home piece "Pets Need Privacy Too" can be found here.
Where We Belong
In 2015, Mohegan Theater Maker Madeline Sayet travelled to England to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare, but her voyage across the ocean became an unexpected journey of transformation. Riding the spirit wind of her Mohegan ancestors who crossed the Atlantic in the 1700s on diplomatic missions to protect her people, Where We Belong is a search for belonging in a globalized world. It is at once a rich investigation into the impulses that divide and connect us as people, but it is also about a wolf that learns how to become a bird and fly.
5 STAR REVIEW OF WHERE WE BELONG AT SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE!
(Written and Performed by Madeline Sayet)
" A spiritual journey-Sayet performs with humbling passion."
- The Upcoming (Read the Full Review Here)
“Not only is Sayet joyfully emotional, real, and incredibly funny, she is a euphoric storyteller, with an important story and explication on cultural authority and experience to tell.” - AsktheUshers
The Neverland
A Mohegan teen has just arrived at a strict religious boarding school. A place where she must follow rules she cannot see any sense in. Believing her Native name too difficult to pronounce, the teacher calls her Wendy, and informs her that her Mohegan culture and everything she cares about is never coming back. This triggers the arrival of Pan and Tink, who have come to gather the Nevers (the spirits of everything and everyone that’s been told they can’t exist anymore). Pan takes them to the Neverland, a refuge, where nothing and no one can ever be erased. But now, even The Neverland is under threat from pirates. Can Wendy, her friends, Pan, Tink, and The Neverlanders stop Hook from finding the Neverland and turning it into another place of hate and taking? Or will even The Neverland be destroyed by greed after all?
Antigone OR And Still She Must Rise Up
The plague has not yet left Thebes. In a broken world at the edge of plague, famine, and war a new leader takes over. This particular adaptation of Antigone asks what would it take for this to no longer be a story about one girl who rises up against injustice- but for all of us to listen, rise up, and stand with her.
Daughters of Leda
As the seasons change and Persephone returns to the underworld, a mortal girl arrives at the same time asking questions that turn history upside down. The Fates have a game up their sleeve - they are tired, they need a vacation. But in order to leave, they have to give the stories they exploited back. In a whirlwind of events, Adam & Eve, Leda & the Swan, Helen, Clytemnestra, Iphigenia, and Electra all come together to choose their own destinies and finally tell their side of the stories that have instilled fear of feminine knowledge for far too long.
Up and Down the River
These five radio plays speak to the up and down struggles of Mohegan leaders from 17th-20th centuries, along the river we call home. Each story offers a glimpse into a way of seeing the world, a time in history, and the sacrifices all Mohegans had to make to preserve the future of the Mohegan nation. (co-written with Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel)
Press for Up and Down the RIver:
THE DAY: Mother and Daughter Bring Mohegan History to Life in Radio Plays
The COURANT: Up and Down the RIver Tells Mohegan History as Radio Theater
When Words Aren't Enough
In a post-apocalyptic world without laughter - everyone knows something important is missing. But, everyone in the village who can actually remember what it was is gone. All they have left now are the stories of what was taken a long time ago. Following the sudden death of her brother, Acokayis is visited by a spirit. A spirit who knows what is missing and sends Acho on a journey to restore that thing we are never quite human without.
Published Work
"Where We Belong" available from Methuen Drama (Bloomsbury),
May 20th 2022 in the UK, August 11th in the US
"The Shakespeare Problem",
A Conversation with Madeline Sayet, Dawn Monique Williams, Mei Ann Teo, and Sarah Enloe.
Being Published as part of "Troubling Traditions" from Routledge
Blood on the Leaves by Madeline Sayet
Anthology of 2019 Climate Change Theatre Action Plays
Imagining Forward" by Madeline Sayet
published as part of The Critical Companion to Native American and First Nations Theatre and Performance
from Bloomsbury 2020)
"You Ask Too Many Questions" by Madeline Sayet
Published as part of "Stages of Resistance" by NoPassport Press
"Could You Love Me?" by Madeline Sayet
A short play being published as part of After Orlando Theater Action
"When the Whippoorwill Calls" A short story by Madeline Sayet
Published by University of Nebraska Press as part of Dawnland Voices: Writing from Indigenous New England
"The Dreams We Make" Article by Madeline Sayet
Published by TCG (Theatre Communications Group) as part of Audience Revolutions: Dispatches from the Field