Back on Stage
- Irma Herrera
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
In Front of Your Eyes Festival 2026
Come See New Excerpt of The ICEmen Cometh — Bring a Friend!
I'm returning to The Marsh this summer for the second IFOYE Festival, and I wanted to write directly to you to ask you to come. I appreciate that you have cheered me on through the many drafts and rehearsals, and that you showed up to see previous excerpts I've performed as part of developing this new show.
Two years ago, I stood on this same festival's stage at its inaugural event. I presented a fifteen-minute excerpt of Class Migrant: de Aquí y de Allá, a one-person show I was developing at the time. That work is on hold for now. But I haven't stopped writing, and I haven't stopped asking the questions that keep pulling me back to the stage.
This year, I'm bringing something new to IFOYE: an excerpt of The ICEmen Cometh, the piece that's had my full attention for the past year.
Why I wrote this
I started writing The ICEmen Cometh last year, in response to the brutal tactics of ICE and the outright cruelty this administration has shown toward immigrant communities across the country. It keeps circling back to a question I keep asking: who belongs in the United States? What message does a country send about who is welcome?
The shifts in public discourse should alarm all of us. White ethno-nationalism has gone from being dismissed as a fringe position to being openly promoted at the highest levels of government. We've watched entire communities — Haitians, Syrians, Venezuelans, Mexicans — branded as subhuman. And that labeling (which should attach to NO one) attaches to all of us who are from these groups, regardless of our citizenship.
I know this firsthand. In a social media post, I was recently called an America-hater and told I should go back to Mexico. That my family has been here for generations was irrelevant to the person writing it. To some, my very physical appearance is enough to decide that I don't belong, that I can't possibly be a "real" American. I write and talk about all of this because I want more people to understand what's actually at stake for our nation. The ICEmen Cometh says it plainly: your rights are next. This isn't only a war on immigrants — it's a war on all of us. As ICE terrorizes our communities, no one is safe.
I'm Sharing the Stage With . . .
I'll be performing as the 15-min Opening Act for headliner Yvonne Martínez, who is presenting her show Someday Mija, You'll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman.
Yvonne's piece celebrates unsung women of color labor activists, beginning with her own grandmother — a sex worker who, alongside her sisters, ran with the "scabmuggers" of 1950s Utah. Scabmuggers were immigrant women who, going back to the turn-of-the-century textile strikes, patrolled picket lines and — when necessary — persuaded others to honor them. Yvonne went on to become a labor organizer and negotiator herself, and this show carries forward the stories of those women, alongside those of real Bay Area labor activists who led local campaigns. Shondaland called Yvonne's work "a must-read (listen) to learn more about this titan."
I finally got to meet Yvonne recently. I know our material will complement each other in ways that will resonate deeply with the audience — two stories, told back-to-back, that both push against what we're told about who we're allowed to be.
The details
IFOYE — In Front of Your Eyes — describes itself as a festival of new performance featuring 36 new works by women and nonbinary creators, including 18 full-length shows. It's a rare, generous platform, and I'm grateful to be part of it again.
The festival runs across two cities and three weeks:
San Francisco: August 12–16, 2026
Berkeley: August 19–23 & August 27–30, 2026
Yvonne and I are performing at The Marsh Berkeley Cabaret Theater:
Saturday, August 29 at 5:30 pm
Sunday, August 30 at 1:00 pm
Both times are Pacific Time.
Can't make it in person? Watch from anywhere.
The Sunday, August 30 @ 1 pm performance will be livestreamed, so no matter where you live, you can be there with us. Click above for tickets to livestream. Please note ONLY the Sunday performance will be livestreamed. Livestream tickets are $10.
If you're in the Bay Area, come in person!
General seating tickets run $15–$35; reserved seating is $50 or $100. Online ticket sales close two hours before each performance, though additional tickets may be available at the door. But . . . we expect BOTH shows to be sold out!! Just 'sayin.
Why Your Presence Matters
Your support, in person or watching on livestream, means more than I can put into words. I deeply value the feedback I receive; your thoughts and opinions have helped me shape the material I present. Please come; being in community as we process what is happening in our country is important. Be part of the conversation and the resistance.
We — the people — still have the power to change the world.
I'd love to see you there.
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