AYLI Artist Profile: Clarissa Smith-Hernandez

Clarissa Smith-Hernandez is the Assistant Director for Shrewd's production of As You Like It.

About Clarissa

Clarissa Smith-Hernandez is from El Paso, Texas and has recently made her home here in Austin. She is the founder of Green Apple Theatre Collective, in where she produced and directed John Cameron Mitchel’s ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ in 2007 and again in 2011 as well as Topdog/Underdog by Suzanne-Lori Parks in 2012. Clarissa hopes to continue to grow her Green Apple Collective tree here in Austin in hopes that she can help to provide the theatre community a place to play and perform all genres of work. Clarissa has performed with the University of Texas at El Paso’s (UTEP) Dinner Theatre as well as with UTEP’s University Players. Clarissa earned her degree in Theatre Education from UTEP and now currently works as an Administrative Assistant for the Theatre and Dance department at the University of Texas at Austin.

Why are you excited about this production of As You Like It?

After moving to a new city with my husband and pups, I had to put my creative theatrical involvement on the back burner. Once I felt I was in a place to begin playing again, the opportunity to be involved came about when Lily Wolf excitedly announced that she was going to direct ‘As You Like It’ for Shrewd Productions. I immediately asked if there was any way that I might be able to be involved and voila I became assistant director! I am forever grateful to Lily and Shrewd Productions for allowing me to be a part of such an amazing production.