Costume Designer E. B. Brooks. Photo courtesy of Arena Stage.
“Fake it Until You Make It,” now playing at Arena Stage, is an intriguing production about racial identity through farce. It was written by Larissa FastHorse who pokes fun at both the Native Americans’ and white Americans’ political ideologies with a bit of cynicism. “Fake it Until You Make It” is a co-production of Arena Stage and the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and opened in 2023 at the Mark Taper Forum.
The play is directed by Michael John Garcés. The cast includes Noah Bean, Eric Stanton Betts, Amy Brenneman, Brandon Del Sid, Shyla Lefner, and Burgandi Trejo Phoenix. The creative team includes Sara Ryung Clement (Set Design), E. B. Brooks (Costume Design), Tom Ontiveros (Lighting Design), and John Nobori (Sound Design).
E.B. Brooks (Costumer Designer) Credits include “Off the Rails,” “Manahatta” (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); “The Legend of Georgia McBride” (2018 Ovation and Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle Award), “Mysterious Circumstances,” “Bad Jews,” “Wait Until Dark,” “Good People” (Geffen Playhouse); “Sovereignty” (Marin Theatre Company); “Winter Bear Project,” “Franklin,” “Will Inc.,” “They Don’t Talk Back” (Perseverance Theatre); “Sweetland,” “Invisible Cities” (The Industry); and “Hit The Wall” (LA LGBT Center). Native Voices: “Pure Native,” “Bingo Hall,” “Stand-Off at HWY #37,” “Bird House,” Playwrights Retreat 2013-2020 as design respondent for over 21 original works by indigenous writers. In addition to stage, E.B. also designs for film, television, commercial, and music video. E.B. has taught at USC, CalTech, and Willamette University. Member of USA 829 and CDG 892. BFA: UMCP. MFA: CalArts.
Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
Thank you to Maryland Theater Guide for expressing an interest in me and my work, and a great big hello and thank you to our readers and audience members. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts but spent most of my young life growing up in the Washington DC area. Most of my extended family— grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins—lived in Boston so my immediate family would travel up there several times a year to visit. I was very fortunate to be able to spend so much time with all four of my grandparents from whom I learned so much. They were all musicians, and my paternal grandmother (of Indigenous Sámi Descent) performed as a violinist and vocalist for much of the 1930s and 40s.
Since she did a lot of performing during the Great Depression, she had to sew most of her own dresses. At a young age, I loved playing dress-up and expressed an interest in sewing, so she taught me how to make patterns, use a sewing machine, and make something old into something new. She told me, “If you know how to sew you will never not work a day in your life,” and she was right! I quickly got swooped up by my high school theater department after doing a presentation in English class on the fashion of “The Great Gatsby” where I brought in some 1920s, beaded flapper dresses and accessories. Soon after high school, I received a Creative and Performing Arts Scholarship to study costume design at the University of Maryland College Park under the mentorship of designer, Helen Huang. For graduate school, I went to California Institute of the Arts to receive my MFA and I studied under Ellen McCartney. My work expanded into designing for film, television, opera, commercials, music videos, and events. However, theater was always my favorite medium. I have been especially honored to have been invited to design so many new works written by Indigenous artists around the nation.
This play pays tribute to Native American artistry in many ways. In creating your costumes for this show, how did you incorporate the cultures of Native Americans?
We incorporate Indigenous culture not only through the colors and patterns of the design that the audience sees on stage, but also through our design practice backstage. When designing in Indigenous spaces, there is a lot of collaboration. On “Fake It Until You Make It,” I worked closely with our fearless playwright Larissa Fasthorse, innovative director Michael John Garcés, jubilant cast of actors, long-time trusted collaborator Janell Turley (Hair, Wig, and Makeup Designer), and a brilliant team of artisans in the shop. Everyone’s vision and thoughts are important. My goal as an artist is to gather ideas, imagery, research, and use that as a springboard for dialogue and decision-making.
Two indigenous artists who workshopped this production over the past few years were essential in the creation of the costumes. Jennifer Bobiwash (Anishinaabe) and Kenny Ray Ramos (Barona Band of Mission Indians/Kumeyaay Nation) were in the room constantly with me to bounce ideas off of. They are also both understudies in this production at the theater every night ready to go on stage whenever needed. Jennifer also worked in the shop at Center Theatre Group (CTG) and created many jewelry and accessory pieces for this show. I also especially loved the wisdom and insight that our costume creators Shanta de Faria, Taylor Cullen, Pamela Waltz, Seth Gilbert, Deborah Nash, and Ashphord Jacoway, assistants Caylyn Dabney, Cierra Coan, and intern Nate Riel offered. Offstage in fittings, we experimented often, tried many new things, and spent hours developing ideas that, although they never made it on stage, were an important step in the design. So, a huge thank you to our costume shop managers Merrianne Nedreberg at CTG and Joseph Salasovich at Arena Stage for their patience and flexibility in prioritizing the importance of our process. We were also able to purchase many beautiful pieces from world-renowned Native American artists such as Adrian Stevens, Sean Snyder, Jamie Okuma, Lauren Goodday, and Bethany Yellowtail, along with many others. Please check out their websites for more information about them and their work.
Are there any costume designers you admire?
I admire them all because the position of costume designer is one of the hardest jobs in the industry. People who work in costumes across the nation are also some of the lowest paid per hour compared to the other positions in the performing arts. It can also be the most fun because we essentially get to be visual storytellers, look at beautiful things, and play dress-up all day long. However, many people underestimate the amount of time, work, and thought that gets put into the clothes you see on stage. I have so much respect for anyone who takes on the great task of designing costumes for a production. I also greatly value theaters like Arena Stage and Center Theater Group who do everything they can to give designers the support they need.
I am always amazed by how fast professional theatres are able to make those super quick costume changes. For those who do costuming for community theatre, can you divulge one or two secrets on how you accomplish this?
It has been quite a few years since I have seen a quick-change backstage since I am often out in the audience making sure everything looks okay from their point of view. But I have to say, trust your wardrobe crew! I was very fortunate to have such a caring and dedicated crew, both at CTG and at Arena Stage. Here in DC, Sabrina Simmons, Ariel Hulvey, Nicole Heimenz, and Jamie Bagley make all the backstage magic happen. Designers should really only be concerned with how it looks on stage. I like to give my crew the freedom to rig garments as they choose (usually with magnets, Velcro, and/or snaps) since they will be the ones putting the costumes on the actors in the dark each night with often milliseconds to spare. I do try to make their job as easy as possible by choosing looks that flow together.
Is there a play (or plays) that you would love to do the costume design?
I want to continue to design costumes for plays and projects that have not been written yet. Especially those written by voices and perspectives from whom audiences have not always had the chance to hear. There is also something so exciting and special about being the first designer on a project where we bring stories and characters to life for the first time. There are challenges because there is no previous work on which to rely when you are stumped, but there is also no past work to influence you or to which to compare your work. You are truly starting from a blank slate with only the words on the page and your team to guide you.
In 2020, I moved from Los Angeles back to Washington, DC to be closer to my family. During the pandemic, when design work came to a halt, I fixed up my grandmother’s violin and started to play it again after not picking it up for many years. I now perform regularly in the DMV area, singing and fiddling! I love getting dressed before each show and look forward to having the time to make myself some dresses—continuing a tradition practiced by my grandmother nearly 100 years ago. I plan to teach the little kids in my life how to play music, design, and sew too.
For Anne Valentino’s review of the production, please click here.
“Fake it Until You Make It” runs through May 4, 2025, presented by Arena Stage (in association with Center Theatre Group), 1101 6th St SW, Washington, DC 20024. For more information and to purchase tickets, please go online.
