Phanésia Pharel

Refuse to Mammy. Refuse Shame. Refuse to Explain. REFUSE IT: A BLACK
WOMAN’S GUIDE TO 21ST CENTURY RAGE explores the lives of Black women who reject
the status quo. Through a kaleidoscope of vignettes, these women confront the costs and benefits
of living radically under the persistent weight of the past. Darkly comedic and unapologetically
defiant, REFUSE IT asks: If society has truly progressed and living conditions are undeniably
better, why don’t we feel better?

FACT: Maria was last seen at her Quinceñera. FACT: The party ended early due to an unknown emergency. FACT: Maria has not responded to any messages in 36 hours. Now, Maria’s three best friends must race against the clock to find out what, exactly, happened at her Quince—and bring her home alive—in this comic thriller about secrets, sisterhood, and solving crime.

Tensions brew as Bean returns to help her brilliantly biting, stubborn Haitian American mother, Emi, after a health scare. Despite succeeding in many of life’s shoulds, Bean is lost, struggling to settle down, and her mother is having none of it. Poetic, personal, and prodigal, The Waterfall explores the complicated bond between mother and daughter, the notion that all women are born to be mothers, and what it means to live your own version of the American Dream.

In the heat of July 1993. Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Jeremy and Souri, two young Haitian lovers, seeking asylum in the United States, must face the question: is freedom worth the hell they are living in? The hope of the American dream is challenged by the reality of the Guantánamo Bay detention center. Wedding Day on Guantánamo Bay brings to light the history of Haitians being scapegoated during the AIDS crisis.

Music is the only thing that hasn’t broken Belchan’s heart. R&B. It’s what brought her parents together. It’s been two years since he was shot in a drive-by shooting; music is now survival for Belchan. When Belchan is hand-selected by chart-topping R&B sensation Silk as the winner of her Detroit local radio contest-she believes she is one step closer to fulfilling her dream, moreover honoring her father. R&B uncovers why black women and girls are so vulnerable in one of the few spaces we feel loved, our music.

A couple in an attic in a coastal American city have to make a choice that will affect their relationship in the future after a climate disaster. It is love and the dreams they have that guide them.

At the Black Girl Joy Center for Vulnerable Youth in Miami, four girls- Trina, JT, Squeaks and Donna come together to share their story. Black Girl Joy shifts between memory, choreo poems and a juicy plot. It is a ritual play for black girls/women to heal from intimate partner violence, a loss of girlhood, and the death of our friends.

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.

Della, a teenage girl reflects on her abstinence education through a speech and debate competition. We shift through time and discover her first love and home ec partner Dannel. Through their sexual relationship the play questions how what we're taught impacts our understanding of consent.

The play resurrects Ned and Betsy Armstrong — the now-famous operators of the Ridgefield Connecticut Underground Railroad — in today’s world, where their family homestead is on the market for $28 million. The Armstrongs reclaim their moral legacy and more importantly, their own happiness.

A debt collector comes to collect from a black man.

The play follows 12-year-old Nadia, a new girl in Miami as she tries to join the jump club. She is outright banned by the most popular girl in school. When visited by the ghost of her deceased sister, Nadia gains the strength and confidence to ignore her bully and jump in. Throughout the play, Nadia learns to stand up for herself and overcome bullying while making new friends.

Penelope is about a teenager dealing with the failed education system, racism, sexism, and the hate and ignorance surrounding it all. Penelope has to walk the tightrope of life to survive her circus of a school.