Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

The first thing that Angie Hernandez wanted to tell us about the Overtime Theater was that it’s an all-volunteer organization, including the governing board and all performers. “We are 100% volunteer,” she said, “including me.”

And she is the theater’s new artistic director.

“The Overtime has gone through several leadership changes in recent years, she explained. “Post-pandemic, the board tried to figure out the best way to move forward. The previous artistic director could no longer fulfill his duties due to personal reasons, so he stepped down. Shortly after that, Jade Esteban Estrada took the job for a couple of months, and then he stepped away… The Overtime has had a very colorful background, for the past 13 years that I have been associated with it,” she added with a laugh “

During those years she appeared on stage in various shows, served as stage manager, helped with costumes, and whatever else was needed. Now, in her new leadership role, she’s in a position to engage the board in discussions about the future.

“They did a great job keeping the theater open post pandemic but they need a central artistic vision to propel the company forward. We need to plan to remain sustainable beyond immediate needs, she noted. “We talked about where we wanted to be in a year, and what kind of shows we wanted to produce. And we are all pretty much on the same page.”

Since its beginning, the Overtime has always welcomed new original scripts, and Hernandez intends to continue that tradition. In fact, she sees the theater “as San Antonio’s playhouse for writers.” A significant number of local playwrights have had their plays produced there, and the theater receives new scripts from writers from other parts of Texas, and from across the country. At present, they have several hundred submissions. As a result, most of the produced shows are world premieres.

“It’s a unique opportunity that we have to cultivate these new works by presenting them to audiences,” she said.

Founded in 2007, the Overtime is a non-profit organization “offering content that appeals to a wide variety of patrons,” from farces and musicals to social-change drama, unconventional adaptations of classics and absurdist drama. Its slogan is” Theater for the People.” Many see the company as San Antonio’s answer to off off Broadway.

In addition to her new role at the Overtime, Hernandez has a full-time job as the development director at the Public Theater of San Antonio. Does she deal with divided loyalties,” we asked.

“I wouldn’t say, they are divided; I would say they are shared,” she replied. “The work that the Public is doing is different from the work we are doing here. I told Claudia (the artistic/executive director of the Public) that I would like to read some of the scripts they are looking at, and that, maybe we could work together as partners. Those are very early stages of conversation on that topic. I don’t see it as competition. We are here to support each other. In fact, interest in that concept is growing: the idea that all the theaters in town can support each other. Many have worked hard to build community within our performing arts organizations.”

In fact, there’s a lot of overlap right now. She brings up the example of actress Rebecca Williams who appeared in “Nina Simone – Four Women” at the Public, but who is also choreographing “Ragtime” at the Wonder Theater (formerly the Woodlawn Theater). What’s more, Williams is also a co-founder of the fledgling Miscast Theater Company.

Altogether, theater audiences are growing at the present time, she noted, adding “we need to figure out what the new normal is going to be, and how to offer what the community wants.”

Hernandez also worked at the Magik Theater as production manager. As a native San Antonian, she remembers going to see a show at the Magik as a child of 6. She remembers being fascinated by what she saw on stage.

So, what’s going on at the Overtime right now and what’s coming up?

At present, the company is bringing to a close its run of “Write What You Know,” by Chip Balho, another hilarious premiere. It’s about a TONY-winning playwright who has not written anything in a while. He eventually decides to take the advice to write about what he knows, and he chooses to write about his quirky friends. When the friends discover what Simon had written…, well, it gets a little complicated, and very funny. (Playing through March 11; Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m.) This will be followed by “Tune In” by Carlos Lacamara, another original work, about a female psychology professor who is conducting experiments with LSD, “the new wonder drug.” (Opens March 24)

A new initiative is Writers Café, that she hopes will bring playwrights together at the theater to use the space for writing in the company of colleagues.

“As for Hernandez, she is happy to embrace all of it.

“I am from San Antonio and I’ve been here since returning home from college. I want to see the theater community grow and foster new talent… I have a passion for the performing arts and I want to cultivate new experiences for the community. All my free time is devoted to theater. I love being on stage, at least once a year. I miss the stage. But I am having fun doing what I am doing, and I love to support our shows in whatever capacity is needed.”
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The Overtime Theater, 5409 Bandera Ave., #205, 78238; 210-557-7562,