Where We Belong at The Umbrella Arts Center

The Umbrella Stage Company presents the New England premiere of Mohegan theatre-maker Madeline Sayet’s ground-breaking one-woman show, Where We Belong.

With great humor, insight and imaginative storytelling, the autobiographical play weaves together indigenous history, Shakespeare, colonialism, cultural legacy, the power of language and legend. It recounts Sayet’s 2015 journey to England to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare, in the shadow of the Brexit vote. Moving between nations that have failed to reckon with their ongoing roles in colonialism, she grapples with what it means to remain or leave her own home at Mohegan, but finds comfort following in the footsteps of her ancestors who traveled to England in the 1700s to help her people.

Performed for the first time by an artist other than Sayet herself, the show has been completely restaged by fellow director and playwright Tara Moses. Its staging in Concord during the semiquincentennial of the “shot heard round the world” raises timely questions of whose stories about history are told, how, by whom, and in what language.

The show runs Feb. 28-Mar. 23, including a special Student Group Matinee Wed. Mar. 12 at 4PM, and select performances will feature engagement opportunities including optional pre-show catered dinners on Thursdays, childcare through The Umbrella’s Kid-Care program for parents interested in attending the March 9 matinee, and others.

The Umbrella is ADA accessible, a proud partner in the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s EBT Card-to-Culture program, and provides free parking and free admission to its visual arts galleries. See https://TheUmbrellaArts.org/WWB for more information.