Madeline Easley
Representation:
Chris Till @ctill@paradigmagency.com
(917) 671-1010
KWEH, ǪMATĘRUˀ
Madeline Easley is an NYC-based Wyandotte playwright. Her work tells epic stories to provide a framework for living in decolonial futures. Born in Kansas City four generations after her people's removal, Madeline's suburban upbringing has led her plays to position colonialism as a discreet dystopia, examining the human threads that wind this reality, positing its fracturing through a thorough examination of the whole. Madeline's work has been presented at the La Jolla Playhouse, Kansas City Repertory Theater (KCREP), Native Voices at the Autry, Rattlestick Theater, the American Indian Community House (AICH), REACH at the Kennedy Center, the TCL Chinese Theatre, and more. She is the Inaugural Four Directions Playwright in 2023 (Tulsa Artist Fellowship, Tofte Lake Center, Great Plains Theatre Commons, and KCREP), a 2022 Resident at SPACE on Ryder Farm, and a 2021 First Peoples Fund Fellow. Her newest play, Representatives for Those at Peace, was commissioned by KCREP and chronicles the legal fight that led her ancestor, Lyda Conley, to become the first Native American woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court. As an actor, Madeline has performed regionally and Off-Broadway.
What's On?
.jpeg)
2023 STAGED READING OF RFTAP @ KCREP
"Oh my dear, what life can we live when they will not leave us in peace, even in death?"
The year is 1910, and the Huron Cemetery is under threat. The resting place of hundreds of Wyandot Indians, the plot sits at the center of Kansas City, Kansas, and developers are keen to get their hands on this piece of Indian land. Everything seems in order until three Wyandot sisters take up arms against the state and raise "Fort Conley" atop the cemetery. Defending the graves of their ancestors, Lyda, Helena, and Ida Conley fight in and out of the courtroom in a story that propels Lyda to take the case to the Supreme Court, becoming the first Native American woman to argue a case in front of this country's highest court.
("Representatives for Those at Peace" was commissioned by the Kansas City Repertory Theatre (Stuart Carden, Artistic Director, Angela Gieras, Executive Director). Its development was supported by Four Directions, a partnership between the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Commons, Tofte Lake Center, and Tulsa Artist Fellowship.
(RFTAP received its first public reading at KCREP on December 2nd, 2023, and was the first sold-out ORIGIN KC play reading with over 250 audience members in attendance.)
PRESS
Plays by Madeline
Plays by Madeline Coming Soon(ish)...
Current
-
2024 - Selected for Native Voices at the Autry Playwriting Retreat and staged reading at La Jolla Playhouse for "Feast for the Dead"
-
2024 - Attended the New Harmony Project
-
2024 - Invited to participate in Peacedale Global Arts (John Eisner, Megan McClain, Rajiv Joseph) Writing Workshop at The Flea Theater in NYC
-
2023 - Workshop and Public Reading of "Representatives for Those at Peace" at KCREP
-
2023 - Residency at Tofte Lake Center
-
2023 - Residency at Tulsa Artist Fellowship
-
2023 - Guest Artist at Great Plains Theatre Commons Conference
-
2023 - Four Directions Playwriting Residency
-
2023 - Playwriting commission from Kansas City Repertory Theatre (KCREP) to tell the story of Lyda Conley, the first Native American woman (and Wyandot) to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court.
-
2023 - "Feast for the Dead" receives a public reading in NYC courtesy of AICH
Recent
-
2022 - "THE FEATHERED GIRL" premieres at the LA SKINS FEST as a Featured Selection at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
-
2022 - Native Women in Film Panel with First Peoples Fund and LA SKINS FEST.
-
2022 - Madeline directs and performs in a staged reading of "QUANTUM" at Primary Stages.
-
2022 - Selected as a 2022 Greenhouse Playwriting Resident at SPACE of Ryder Farms.
-
2022 - Madeline performs in "FLYING BIRD'S DIARY" at Long Wharf Theatre
-
2022 -Madeline performs in "DÉJÀ VU: BEFORE AMERICA WAS AMERICA" at Signature Theatre with T41.
-
2022 -Madeline is commissioned by First Peoples Fund to create a film for "WE THE PEOPLES BEFORE" at the Kennedy Center.
Representatives for Those at Peace at KCREP
First Reading at Kansas City Repertory Theatre (KCREP) - December 2023 - Photos by Don Ipock with KCREP
Directed by Tara Moses - Stage Manager: Mackenzie Goodwin Tran - Featuring: DeLanna Studi, Jen Olivares, Jennifer Bobiwash, Nicholas Stauffer, Andi Meyer, Jason Chanos, and Jennifer Attocknie
Special Thanks: Chief Judith Manthe (Wyandot Nation of Kansas), Richard Zane Smith (Wyandot Nation of Kansas)
Recent Projects/Performances
Get in Touch
Other Performances/Events
