Long Wharf Theatre: Spotlight on Costume Design at New Haven Museum

Join costume designer Rea J. Brown and Long Wharf Theatre Artistic Team member Vanessa Soto at the New Haven Museum (NHM) for a conversation on culture, identity, and character as represented through the play “El Coquí Espectacular & the Bottle of Doom,” on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at 6 p.m. The free event will be preceded by tours with Long Wharf Theatre Director of Artistic Planning and exhibition curator Jessica Durdock Moreno at 5:00 and a reception at 5:30 p.m. Register here.

Brown, who designed the costumes for “El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom,” will discuss how their design process brought the characters, cultural themes, and superhero elements of the play to life through costume.

In “El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom,” the iconic Puerto Rican superhero El Coquí Espectacular springs to life from the imagination of Alex, a struggling comic book artist searching for purpose and identity. As Alex dons the mask of his creation, he wrestles with self-doubt, cultural expectations, and the pull of a more conventional path, ultimately confronting what it means to be a hero—on the page, in the world, and within himself. Brown’s costume designs bring El Coquí and his world to life, drawing on both comic book iconography and Puerto Rican cultural references. The costumes illuminate Alex’s inner conflict, his cultural pride, and the tension between fantasy and reality. During the discussion, Soto and Brown will frame how these design choices deepen the play’s exploration of heritage, belonging, and representation.