IBPOC Internship update: Phil Fernandez

Working with Bad New Days on Return of the Megafauna was an incredibly fun and truly unforgettable experience. From the moment I walked into the rehearsal hall and met the team, I knew something special was being made. It felt like I had been there from the beginning, fully integrated and ready to take on whatever task was at hand, which usually meant working with the puppets! I had never worked with puppets before, let alone so closely, and just that made my time worthwhile. But to be surrounded by a team that was so willing to go with the flow, work with whatever they got, and have so much fun along the way just made the whole experience. Not to mention the actual show, which conceptually, I love. The opportunity to sit and watch a sloth (mega, or otherwise) graze for 30 minutes is not one that comes by often, so getting to do that for four days was a real treat. Post-humanism is such a thought-provoking concept, one that I found myself researching a while before joining this project, and the use of the megasloth and megafauna in general is a great way to explore the concept further and how it deals with human history and our place in nature. I am so excited to see how this project evolves and what Bad New Days does with it in the future. While I may never get to walk a megasloth down a busy street again, I am forever grateful to Adam, Kari, Sebastian, Seymour, and the Kick and Push team for the opportunity to work on such an amazing project.

-Phil