The Practice
Montréal-based costume designer and fashion creator. Member of United Scenic Artists and 2016 Elliot Norton Award recipient.
Where It Begins
Elisabetta Polito is a Montréal-based costume designer and fashion creator. A member of United Scenic Artists, her practice moves between theatre, film, and fashion — from intimate theatrical productions to large-scale musicals, from bespoke couture to CAD-assisted collection development.
Her theatre work includes collaborations with SpeakEasy Stage Company, Lyric Stage Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Gloucester Stage Company, Ocean State Theatre Company, Stoneham Theatre, Boston Conservatory, Wheelock Family Theatre, and Boston Arts Academy, among many others. In 2016, she received the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Costume Design, a distinction recognising excellence in the Boston theatre community.
In film, she designed costumes for YE, produced by Jagun Fly Productions, and All Saints Day, directed by Matt Aaron Krinsky and starring Don Swayze. Across theatre, film, and fashion, her practice is grounded in a constant dialogue between storytelling, the body, and the garment — where each discipline illuminates and enriches the other.
For many years, she led the Fashion Technology Program at Boston Arts Academy, guiding a generation of young designers in developing their creative practice. That commitment to passing knowledge forward continues to shape her work: for her, the studio and the classroom are one. Creating and teaching are two expressions of the same practice.
Studio Viemage is a return - to Montréal, to the act of making, and to an intentional artistic practice rooted in craft, research, and narrative design. Its name brings together life, image, and the act of seeing. Every project begins with careful observation: of people, of memory, of material, and of the quiet stories they carry. Through textile, those observations take form. The garment becomes a living image, and the body becomes the canvas on which stories are revealed.
Awards & Nominations
Ain't Misbehavin': The Fats Waller Musical · A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Outstanding Costume Design, Midsize or Small Theater
Ain't Misbehavin': The Fats Waller Musical
Outstanding Costume Design
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
Small Theater: Best Costume Design
Into the Woods
Small Theater: Best Costume Design
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Outstanding Design, Midsize/Small/Fringe Theater
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Small Theater: Best Costume Design
Production Credits
How We Work
Knowing Through Making
Creating is a way of thinking. Every seam is a decision; every silhouette carries intention. We believe the hand and the mind are one: the rigour of craft nourishes the rigour of thought.
Research in the Studio
The studio is also a site of research. Investigations into textile, memory, trauma, care, and material culture inform every piece. The work is never purely aesthetic — it carries meaning.
The Time to Make
Every project deserves the time it requires. That is why we choose to take on a limited number of commissions. This is not about creating scarcity — it is about preserving the quality of attention. In a world that prizes speed, we claim slowness as a form of respect: for the material, for the person who wears it, and for the gesture that brings it to life.
Production Credits
YE
Jagun Fly Productions
SpeakEasy Stage Company
Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder · Book of Will · Breath and Imagination · Camelot · Peter and the Starcatcher · Saturday Night/Sunday Morning · City of Angels · Into the Woods · Water by the Spoonful · Stones in His Pockets · Time Stands Still · Dog Fight · Big Fish · A Future Perfect · Necessary Monsters · The Color Purple · Kurt Vonnegut: Make Up Your Mind · In the Heights · Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Lyric Stage Company
Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder · Book of Will · Breath and Imagination · Camelot · Peter and the Starcatcher · Saturday Night/Sunday Morning · City of Angels · Into the Woods · Water by the Spoonful · Stones in His Pockets · Time Stands Still
Further Credits
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (Cymbeline) · Gloucester Stage Company (Cyrano, The Last Schwartz, Out of Sterno) · Ocean State Theater Company (Inherit the Wind) · Stoneham Theater (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, How to Succeed in Business, Addams Family: The Musical, and others) · Wheelock Family Theater (Mary Poppins) · Boston Conservatory (Pajama Game) · Boston Arts Academy · Emerson College · Suffolk University · Brandeis Theatre Company · Providence College · Boston Midsummer Opera · Concord Academy
Elliot Norton Award
2016 recipient. Awarded by the Boston Theater Critics Association in recognition of outstanding contribution to Boston-area theatre.
"I like to wait about two weeks before going back to see a show, enough time to leave it completely behind me. I want to discover it as an audience member, not as its designer. If I still get butterflies watching it, I know I had the privilege of being part of something truly special."
— Elisabetta Polito, SpeakEasy Stage Company
As Featured In
Meet the Designers: Elisabetta Polito
An in-depth profile on design process, character research, and the craft of building bold, elaborate costumes for large-scale musicals — from Big Fish to The Color Purple.
Theater in Thirty @ The Lyric Stage — Lisa Polito
A featured conversation with Lisa Polito as part of the Lyric Stage's Theater in Thirty series.
Kurt Vonnegut's Make Up Your Mind — SpeakEasy Stage Company
A regional review of the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of Kurt Vonnegut's Make Up Your Mind, published in Talkin' Broadway's Boston coverage.
Dogfight — SpeakEasy Stage Company
A regional review of the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of Dogfight, published in Talkin' Broadway's Boston coverage.
Big Fish — SpeakEasy Stage Company
A regional review of the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of Big Fish, published in Talkin' Broadway's Boston coverage.
A Future Perfect — SpeakEasy Stage Company
A regional review of the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of A Future Perfect, published in Talkin' Broadway's Boston coverage.
Peter and the Starcatcher — Lyric Stage Company
A regional review of the Lyric Stage Company production of Peter and the Starcatcher, published in Talkin' Broadway's Boston coverage.
The Color Purple — SpeakEasy Stage Company
A regional review of the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of The Color Purple, published in Talkin' Broadway's Boston coverage.
Bloody Bloody Andrew Who? Or He's So Not That Guy
A review and feature covering the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.
Commissions, collaborations, speaking engagements, and creative partnerships are always welcome.