Phanésia Pharel

Phanésia Pharel is a Haitian-American playwright from a dragon fruit farm in Miami. The daughter of an immigrant teacher and farmer, she writes to honor people. Her full-length plays include DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEÑERA, THE WATERFALL, R&B , LUCKY, and BLACK GIRL JOY.

Her honors include the Kennedy Center Lorraine Hansberry Award, Kilroys List, Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist/Honorable Mention, Jane Chambers Finalist, A is For Playwriting award, Kennedy Center Latinx Playwriting Award, Frank Moffett Mosier Fellowship for Works in Heightened Finalist Prize and Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Playwriting Award.

Phanésia is a member of the Obie-winning EST/Youngblood group and The Wish Collective, whose play the wish has been performed in over 20 states since the fall of Roe v. Wade. She has...

Phanésia Pharel is a Haitian-American playwright from a dragon fruit farm in Miami. The daughter of an immigrant teacher and farmer, she writes to honor people. Her full-length plays include DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEÑERA, THE WATERFALL, R&B , LUCKY, and BLACK GIRL JOY.

Her honors include the Kennedy Center Lorraine Hansberry Award, Kilroys List, Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist/Honorable Mention, Jane Chambers Finalist, A is For Playwriting award, Kennedy Center Latinx Playwriting Award, Frank Moffett Mosier Fellowship for Works in Heightened Finalist Prize and Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Playwriting Award.

Phanésia is a member of the Obie-winning EST/Youngblood group and The Wish Collective, whose play the wish has been performed in over 20 states since the fall of Roe v. Wade. She has received commissions from the Atlantic Theater, Miranda Family Fund, City Theatre Miami, and Latinx Playwrights Circle. Her work has been developed by the Playwrights' Center, New York Stage and Film, SolFest, Thrown Stone, Shattered Globe, and Echo Theater Company.

She is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at UC San Diego, mentored by Naomi Iizuka and Deborah Stein.

Scripts

DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEÑERA

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

Being 15 is even more complicated when your best friend goes missing. Maria's besties are in a race against the clock to find out what happened to her and bring her home alive. A dark comedic thriller about secrets, sisterhood, and crime solving; DEAD GIRL'S QUINCEAÑERA asks what it means to come of age in a messed-up world and what we need to do to survive.

Being 15 is even more complicated when your best friend goes missing. Maria's besties are in a race against the clock to find out what happened to her and bring her home alive. A dark comedic thriller about secrets, sisterhood, and crime solving; DEAD GIRL'S QUINCEAÑERA asks what it means to come of age in a messed-up world and what we need to do to survive.

Wedding Day on Guantánamo Bay

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

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 light the history of Haitians being scapegoated during the AIDS crisis.

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 light the history of Haitians being scapegoated during the AIDS crisis.

The Waterfall

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

Tensions brew as Bean returns to help her brilliantly biting, stubborn Haitian American mother, Emi, recover from an aneurysm. 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...

Tensions brew as Bean returns to help her brilliantly biting, stubborn Haitian American mother, Emi, recover from an aneurysm. 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.

R&B (Rhythm and Belchan)

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

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...

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.

And Other Dreams We Had

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

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.

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.

Black Girl Joy

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

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.

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.

Lucky

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

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.

I HAVE NO CONFIDENCE ANY OF THIS WILL WORK

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

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.

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.

Should We Dance Instead?

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

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.

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.

0.25

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

A debt collector comes to collect from a black man.

A debt collector comes to collect from a black man.

Jump Rope

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

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.

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.

Look at Me

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

A Zoo Story is a snapshot of the danger of people zoos. A small pygmy eager to escape his cell interacts with his keeper and capturer Charles.

A Zoo Story is a snapshot of the danger of people zoos. A small pygmy eager to escape his cell interacts with his keeper and capturer Charles.

Penelope

by Phanésia Pharel

Synopsis

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.

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.