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| Irene Hernandez |
1. What inspired you to write your show?
Parental Guidance Suggested (An Unfortunately True Musical Dramedy) was inspired by a particular daycare I worked at that treated my education and childcare and teaching experience with suspicion. I even felt that way at the job interview, where they didn't understand my resume and the residencies I worked at. They assumed that I was unreliable. And I didn't even get the job yet. That should have been my first clue of the awfulness to expect.
I worked at the job for exactly 6 months and 1 week and the two lead teachers I worked for had less education than I did and used workbooks for their lesson plans. Almost every time I set something up, they rearranged everything, like the sleeping bags for nap time or the clothes stored in the cubbies. They also criticized me consistently, to the point that I counted once. The average amount of criticism in a 10 hour day, for 10 dollars an hour, was 6 times. So basically, I was criticized every 45 minutes.
The character of Miss Perfect was based on those two teachers, as well as the daycare owner who made me scrub the door and walls with bleach. When I tried to clean with Lysol wipes, she made me do it again with a bucket of hot water, bleach and tough sponges. I ended up with my complete arm in pain that took 4 months to heal.
The toddlers were attached to me and really liked me, which complicated the situation. They had complex personalities I observed and experienced up close on a daily basis. The character of Annie was based on a little girl who was a picky eater who only liked drinking yogurt, who took toys away from the other kids and pushed kids away in line for the slide and had epic tantrums. The character of Jenny was based on any of the kids who Annie made cry. The character of Milo was based on twins that I genuinely loved, who would both run in different directions at nap time and I would have to monitor because they took forever to fall asleep. The character of Peter was based on a little boy who was potty training but would never get to the potty in time and would pee everywhere, especially during nap time, where he would always pee in his alligator sleeping bag. I would have to air out that sleeping bag after nap time on a daily basis. He would also want my attention all of the time, talk a little too loudly and would tell me that he didn't like me: Miss Irene... I don't like you. He would say that to me after asking me to read him a book, while helping him at lunch time, even though he drank juice more than he ate, and after asking me to play with him. To this day, I still don't know if he understood what he was saying, or if he knew perfectly well.
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| Irene gets scolded by Miss Perfect |
2. Tell us about your background as a theatre artist.
I am an actor, playwright, director, producer, singer and songwriter. I always wanted to be an actor and started my training at 19 at Playwrights Theater in Madison, NJ. It was an adult acting class and everyone there was twice my age and incredibly talented and generous and through them, I really learned my craft and I acted in plays. I later studied theater further at Montclair State University, but honestly, the only classes where I genuinely learned were voice, movement and playwriting, where I learned format and rules, so I can break them in my storytelling. After graduating with my BFA in Acting, I moved to NYC, where I joined several theater companies and acted in numerous productions and films.
While I was at university, my actress friend and I felt incredibly frustrated with the acting program, the choices of plays performed and the favoritism with casting. I came across a producing workshop in NYC and joined and learned all the ins and outs of producing your own work. After discussing everything I wanted to do, I was encouraged to create my own theater company. When my actress friend moved on from acting, I created Dancing Frog Theater Company in 3 days. That was 7 years ago and I have produced and created numerous productions and still do.
As an actor, it's been a frustrating experience with auditioning because I am naturally impatient and the idea of waiting for a part is maddening. When I started writing plays 6 years ago, my main reason was to write myself parts, to challenge myself as an actor and show what I can really do. Though I tend to be cast in dramas, as a playwright, I write dark comedies, so it's refreshing to play comedic roles, but grounded in reality. I love creating a world as an actor and writer and write interesting characters for other actors as well. Directing naturally came from my understanding of the acting and production process. As an actor, I don't like to be told what to do and I approach directing the same way: I ask actors questions during rehearsals and gently guide them to owning their characters and create an environment where they can be free to create.
I also created a web series on YouTube called Brand New Me, about an awkward young woman who created the longest New Year's Resolution ever and tries to cross off resolutions off of her list in every episode. It is a lo fi series and I write and direct every episode and play the awkward main character, Desiree. I have created 5 episodes so far, and am editing another episode and writing new episodes as well. Each episode is on location, so I hope to create more episodes this fall.
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| Irene has a moment with the audience which is quickly disrupted by arts and crafts |
3. When is the next time we can see Parental Guidance Suggested (An Unfortunate Musical Dramedy)?
So far, Parental Guidance Suggested (An Unfortunately True Musical Dramedy) has had 4 shows at Theater For The New City as part of the Dream Up Festival. We have 3 shows left: Wednesday, September 6th at 6:30pm, Sunday, September 10th at 8pm and Tuesday, September 12th at 9pm. Tickets are $15 and can either be purchased at the box office (cash only) or can be purchased online through Smart Tix: http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=par747
4. What is your astrological sign?
I am an Aries and it definitely applies to me: I am adventurous, a born leader, incredibly stubborn, and I go my own way.
5. What do you eat for breakfast?
For breakfast, I am a zombie without my morning coffee with amaretto creamer and if I'm in a hurry, I have cereal, basically whatever brand of cereal that is on sale that week. When I have time, I like to make my vegetarian omelette (I'm not vegetarian, but my omelette is so delicious, that it doesn't need meat) with whole wheat toast, but I've been so busy lately with my work (which is awesome) that it's been forever since I have made my omelette.
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| Poster for Parental Guidance Suggested (An Unfortunate Musical Dramedy) |
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