“Fake It Until You Make It”, now playing at the Mark Taper Forum, was written by Larissa FastHorse and directed by John Garcés has some farcical elements, but it is not a farce. The writing is good, at times funny, and elicits laughs now and then, however, the direction throughout does not allow a Farce to take place. Instead, it is a type of Vaudeville or actually a Morality Play that hits you over the head with lines delivered with a sledgehammer. By the end of the play it has simply become Melodrama.
Farces work on a number of different levels. There is the door farce where someone needs to hide for whatever reason and multiple coming and goings through different spaces makes for a visual festival of near misses. This show has that in the different office spaces and the ease with which they move in and out. Great work by Scenic Designer Sara Ryung Clement. There is also the case of mistaken identity and how far that goes depending on the final culmination of the characters involved. Think Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” or Oscar Wildes’ “The Importance of Being Ernest.” This show has that element as well in the character of Mark Shortbull, played by Eric Stanton Betts and Theo played by Noah Bean. Brandon Delsid also doubles in for the character of ‘River’ played by Julie Bowen. Kudos to FastHorse for hitting these salient points.
L-R Julie Bowen and Noah Bean in “Fake It Until You Make It”- Photo by Makela Yepez.
What is lacking here and stops this show from becoming a farce is the direction of the actors. Especially with the two female leads, Julie Bowen as ‘River’ and Tonantzin Carmelo as ‘Wynona.’ Inexplicably they deliver their lines in a forceful shouting in direct address to the audience and do not alter that pattern for the entirety of the show. They retain a bombastic demeaner in every scene. Truly their characters are at war with each other over grant funding for their respective non-profit organizations, but there is no conniving, subterfuge, or delicate maneuvering. No nuance of opposing and clashing ideologies. There is only the relentless onslaught of shouting at the audience about what they want or need and how they intend to destroy the other so that they can get it. Even at a slim 90 minutes this grows tedious. One wishes they had watched a few episodes of the 60’s sitcom “The Mothers-in-Law” with Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard to give full range to their agendas in cancelling the other. Really, even a few episodes of “I Love Lucy” would have sufficed.
There is also a physical element to farce which can tip its’ hat to Vaudeville, and Commedia dell’arte. There is a very tight timing element to when characters enter and exit a scene, and how they enter and exit, as well as the speed at which they deliver certain lines and where they focus while doing it. For the most part, much of the time the actors spent facing front loudly saying their lines as if they were told to be bigger, be broader, and that in itself would make their characters funny. It didn’t.
L-R Dakota Ray Herbert, Brandon Delsid, Eric Stanton Betts, Naoh Bean, and Tonantzin Carmelo in “Fake It Until You Make It” – Photo by Makela Yepez.
The physicality was weak and even missing in some areas. How they hid and ran up and down stairs was messy and not considered via character development. How they fought with the cat could have been hysterical as anyone who has watched “Monty Python” could attest. We know the cat is stuffed – THAT is what makes it funny when someone has the skill set to make us see it attacking them. Think Donald O’Conner in “Make’em Laugh” from “Singin’ in the Rain.” The fight scene with the confetti gun was strangely slowed down and simple. It was not effective in us thinking that either character actually wanted it but were simply told to hold it and thrust it this way and then that. It was as if the actors were ‘marking’ it. There were no ‘stakes’ in getting the confetti gun and after one character did get it we find out why – It was never intended to threaten anyone by pointing it at them, but merely to shoot it in the air. Then when the confetti is falling to the ground all cast members onstage suddenly erupt into a disco dance craze. I suppose it was an outrageous joke and absurdist convention to have everyone overcome by the confetti cannon evoking 1986 Disco fever, but with no set up or counterpart to the action it was a standalone and fell flat.
I’m sure the subject material is rife with possibility in terms of Farce. Two Nonprofits helmed by women of different Race are fighting for the same grant money. One is Native American and one is White. The stereotypes keep coming through the lines and behavior of every character. There is a 2Spirit character Krys, played by Brandon Delsid, who has their own Nonprofit for youth coming out as 2Spirit. Krys is an amalgam of stereotyped twink behavior and serves as the sassy sidekick to the other women.
L-R Dakota Ray Herbert, Tonantzin Carmelo, Eric Stanton Betts, and Brandon Delsid in “Fake It Until You Make It” – Photo by Makela Yepez.
All through the play the two lead women are shouting about how ‘sexy’ Theo is. How he is ‘hot,’ etc. What happens is that these comments are always delivered in a loud shout so that we never believe them, nor do they read as funny. This convention devolves into an act of oral sex that is superfluous and not entertaining, funny, or absurd. It is just odd. I’m sure it was meant to be provocative on some level.
L-R Eric Stanton Bretts and Brandon Delsid in “Fake It Until You Make It” – Photo by Makela Yepez.
There is a water ceremony that isn’t quite funny but rather crude as if a high school student choreographed it. We can’t even condemn the white woman for being so clueless about Native American ceremonies as it is more of a stripper routine than any kind of attempt at authenticity. Did I misunderstand the fun-loving rambunctious attitude of the bump and grind? It would have been funny if it had caricatured a ceremony instead of twerking with a water vase. Again, I think of Lucille Ball doing Ballet class.
L-R Eric Stanton Bretts and Brandon Delsid in “Fake It Until You Make It” – Photo by Makela Yepez.
So much of the show could work as a farce with great tightening of physicality, nuance of intention, varying the level of shouting/intonation of the lines, not planting the feet in a wide second position and saying everything out to the front of the house, and subverting some of the stereotypes. Farce is all about stock characters but their behavior surprises which is the whole point of it. This is at least true for the character of ‘Grace,’ played by Dakota Ray Hebert. She presents as true Native American only to change her cultural background or ‘Race shift’ when the mood strikes her. It is with ‘Grace’ and the character of ‘Krys’ that E.B. Brooks as costume designer has the most fun. The outfits are fabulous and change from Sari to Geisha and beyond. I look forward to a reworking of this show in the future.
“Fake It Until You Make It” runs through March 9, 2025 at the Mark Taper Forum. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit their website.
Written by Brian Fretté for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: L-R Tomantzin Carmelo and Noah Bean in “Fake It Until You Make It” – Photo by Makela Yepez.
