Brooks appeared in the title role of "The Oedipus Plays", a production that traveled to the 2003 Athens Festival in Greece. He also appeared in the title role of "King Lear" at Yale's Repertory Theatre. In 2005, Brooks again starred as "Othello", this time at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in a production directed by renowned Michael Kahn. Brooks was one of 15 actors of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC, to be honored with the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre in 2007. He returned to the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Fall 2007 to play the title role in Christopher Marlowe's "Tamburlaine". His performance was interrupted when an injury made it necessary for him to take time off to heal.