" 'Where We Belong' feels like a probing search for answers, there is little spontaneity or discovery to Sayet’s performance, which can feel like a recitation straining for emphasis rather than a vivid recollection."
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"The show is an ongoing journey, it seems, to work through them...'Where We Belong' belongs to the realms of both theatre and lecture, cultural retrospective and personal memoir."
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"It may not be very theatrical and would be a better lecture than a play, but 'Where We Belong' has great educational value and is extremely thought-provoking, and is thus entirely worth seeing."
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Ultimately, Sayet's unhappy scholarly experience is a narrow lens through which to view her larger subject, namely this country's shameful treatment of its Indigenous peoples, a history shaped by many lies and cultural amnesia. Indeed, Where We Belong is filled with compelling digressions that snag one's attention away from the subject at hand.
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"You could well view the 80-minute monologue as a quest, one that informs yet one that also raises questions."
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Writer/ director/actress Madeline Sayet is an engaging performer. Directed by Mei Ann Teo, her one-woman show “Where We Belong” is an autobiographical tale of her Mohegan roots and her seeking her place in the world as she travels to London to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare. While much of the play contains information and stories that will come as a revelation to most New Yorkers, the play often feels like a lecture with an agenda. The most interesting parts are her own discoveries about her roots and her encounters with other people in which she plays both characters.
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…best when Sayet explains the culture and history of her tribe, especially through the stories of family members and individual Mohegan ancestors…. Sayet is more effective as a playwright than a performer, and the effort at a poetic effect…does not mask the gaps in the story that frames the play: Sayer’s personal journey to England to study for a PhD in Shakespeare, which leads to her feeling betrayed.
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