Lucky by Phanésia Pharel

On the Caribbean island of Quisqueya (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), where war has erupted, vulnerable bodies are under the reign of soldiers and fire. A Waitress escapes onto a resort in the midst of writing her novel; telling the story of a beautiful young woman named Lucky. As she writes the novel comes to life, shifting between the resort and Lucky’s world. As the waitress weaves Lucky’s path to...
On the Caribbean island of Quisqueya (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), where war has erupted, vulnerable bodies are under the reign of soldiers and fire. A Waitress escapes onto a resort in the midst of writing her novel; telling the story of a beautiful young woman named Lucky. As she writes the novel comes to life, shifting between the resort and Lucky’s world. As the waitress weaves Lucky’s path to womanhood, Lucky is forced to sacrifice her home and body. What does triumph look like in a world numb to Black girls suffering?” The women of Lucky refuse to burn.
  • Recommend
  • Download
  • Save to Reading List

Lucky

Recommended by

  • Heather Helinsky:
    7 Mar. 2024
    “ LUCKY is a deeply haunting play of survival where the story of Haiti/DR is told through a 16-year old girl's eyes. This play is a deep river, flowing between past and present as the Waitress is writing her novel in search of cultural knowledge, and finds both beauty and trauma. Every scene is a deeply intimate look at a raw and tragic experience. I've been fortunate to encounter Pharel's work dramatizing characters whose bodies hold so much generational pain, and I can feel the writer's intentional care for both her characters and the audience as we embrace them together. ”
  • Audrey Lang:
    25 Dec. 2023
    “ LUCKY is a beautiful, layered journey. Both the Waitress and the characters from her world, as well as Lucky and the other characters from the world of the story-within-a-story, were drawn and painted with exquisite detail. I loved the way that the Waitress found herself and what she wanted from her own life as she told her protagonist's story. ”
  • Conor McShane:
    28 Sep. 2023
    “ A heart-stoppingly beautiful piece that deftly weaves time and space together with subtle magic. It contains a great deal of suffering and pain, but also deep tenderness, love, and even joy. Sometimes, choosing hope is the most radical thing you can do. ”
View all 6 recommendations

LUCKY - 16. Haitian.
Dark as night, Lucky brings the light of day with her smile.

WAITRESS/ENSEMBLE - 20’s. Haitian-American.
When the world is on fire, she writes.

WAITER/ENSEMBLE - 20’s. Haitian-American.
A man that loves men. Dark and rooted like soil. Great friend.

MAMAN/ENSEMBLE - 30’s or 40’s. Haitian.
A mother and fighter in every sense of the word.

GREEN EYES/TRUJILLO - 20’s. Latinx man.
Cousin of Blank eyes. A kind coward.
Trujillo represents Rafael Trujillo, a former dictator of the Dominican Republic.

BLANK EYES/ENSEMBLE- 24. Latinx man.
Charming. A first. A soldier. The m in man is for machismo.

BLUE EYES/ENSEMBLE. Latinx man.
A sweet and kind man. A reader and protector.

Development History

  • Workshop
    ,
    Latinx Playwrights Circle
    ,
    2022
  • Residency
    ,
    New York Stage and Film
    ,
    2020
  • Reading
    ,
    Conch Shell Productions
    ,
    2019

Awards

Winner
,
Brandt award for playwriting
,
Barnard College
,
2019