With new farce, Larissa FastHorse makes history as 1st Native American playwright at the Mark Taper Forum

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LOS ANGELES — Ducking, distracting and hiding behind doors are par for the course in any farce, and "Fake it Until You Make it" certainly features those staples, but it also marks a major first for the Mark Taper Forum, even if getting it here took longer than expected.

“This play was written for this space,” playwright Larissa FastHorse said.

The piece, commissioned by Center Theatre Group, was slated for 2023 but was essentially canceled two weeks before rehearsals were to begin when the Taper entered a pause in programming. She could have taken it elsewhere, but as someone who has adopted LA as her home, FastHorse really wanted to open it here — and finally she is, making history in the process.

“To bring the first Native American written play to the Taper stage,” she said, “I mean, that's incredible and that's special and it's something we really wanted to be a part of.”

Theaters in general, she said, haven’t always been responsive to or representative of Indigenous communities. The same can be said about so many industries, which is why she suspects the national conversation around ending diversity and inclusion initiatives won’t pack too much a punch for a group that was barely included in the first place.

“Indigenous folks are left out of pretty much everything,” FastHorse said with a knowing laugh. “I mean, the number of times I've had to tell theaters, you say BIPOC. There's no I like anywhere in your theater, anywhere in your season and not in your audience either. So you got to take that I out. You haven't earned it.”

But Center Theatre Group, she said, has earned it in the ways this production has been handled. Native artists whose work is incorporated into the set design are also showcased in the lobby so patrons can learn about them. Props and other details on stage were sourced from indigenous small businesses representing over 15 tribal affiliations.

“This has been a case study for any other theater to understand, like, how they can work well with native people,” FastHorse said.

The show is a comedy but one that raises some serious questions. Actor Tonantzin Carmelo, who stars opposite Julie Bowen as the leaders of two rival nonprofits, said comedy is the perfect way to address tough topics.

“I think it lets you process things in a different way when you're, you know, you're completely in a good mood and you're having this good time with all these other people,” she explained.

Dakota Ray Hebert agrees.

“As a stand-up comedian who dabbles a lot in ‘edutainment’, I'm a big fan of — whittling a whole an entire comedy thing around deeper issues,” she said. “It's very much, sugar makes the medicine go down. And laughter is the best medicine.”

It’s also something the cast and creative team think the city really needs a dose of right now.

“I think it's part of the healing process to come together and to laugh and to be together as a community,” Carmelo said.

“We've been through so much here in Los Angeles and, you know, we're going to continue going through a lot,” FastHorse explained. “And then being able to come together in this format where we all are human to human, where we're all having to see each other and be next to each other is really incredible, both for healing but also understanding.”

This newest play, she says, deals with complicated issues of race, identity and sovereignty and while she definitely wants to make audiences laugh, she also wants to make them think — without telling them what to think.

“So my plays don't just say, ‘here's an idea. Here's what I think of it, and you should too,’ because then people can just say, ‘No, I disagree’ and move on,” she said. “What I would like is for me to say, ‘hey, here's some things that are interesting to me that I think we should all be thinking about, or that we're about to all be thinking about. And I would like you to look at it from a few different angles and make up your own mind.’”

“I want you to have fun,” she continued, speaking about her audience. “I want you to enjoy yourself and have a great time and say, ‘Wow…that was so much fun and I have some things I have to think about and some things I've got to figure out.’ I want people to have both of those experiences. And laughter is the best way to do it.”

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