PHANÉSIA PHAREL
Playwright of DEAD GIRL'S QUINCEAÑERA
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. She is the incoming Playwriting Fellow (2025-2027) at Emory University, where she will teach and have a new play produced by their repertory company. Her full-length plays include DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEÑERA, The Waterfall, Black Girl Joy, and Refuse It: A Black Woman's Guide to 21st Century Rage. Her plays have been developed at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, New Harmony Project, Playwrights' Center, New York Stage and Film, SolFest, Thrown Stone, Shattered Globe, and Echo Theater Company. She has received commissions from the Atlantic Theater, Lucille Lortel (Alcove), La Jolla Playhouse, Miranda Family Fund, Hero Theatre, City Theatre Miami, and the Latinx Playwrights Circle. Phanésia is a member of the Obie-winning EST/Youngblood group and The Wish Collective. As a screenwriter, she is a member of Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Screenwriting Lab. Her honors include The Kilroys Web, five awards from the Kennedy Center, and recognition as a two-time Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist/Honorable Mention. She is a Jane Chambers Finalist, an A is For Playwriting Award recipient, and a Finalist for the Frank Moffett Mosier Fellowship for Works in Heightened Language. She holds a BA in Urban Studies from Barnard College of Columbia University and an MFA in Playwriting from the University of California San Diego.
Why are you excited to bring this piece to the O'Neill and what are you hoping to accomplish here?
I want to dive into this play intimately, with no distractions, and make it the best it can be. I was an NPC Playwright Observer through the Kennedy Center a few years ago, and during that experience I saw up close and personal the magic of the O'Neill. I've also never had the opportunity to have one of my plays go up for two readings within the span of a few days—that is insanely exciting! Also: The O'Neill staff are really smart, and I'm excited to connect with the other three playwrights. Maybe! We! Can! Be! Friends!
What inspired you to create this piece?
My best friends inspired the play. While no one went missing, a lot of what happens in this play comes from a truthful place. I believe young women often help each other survive—and I wanted to honor the power of young friendships.
Why are you drawn to plays/musicals as a medium for storytelling and/or for telling this particular story?
A few of my favorite plays are coming-of-age stories, from African Mean Girls Play to Dance Nation. As for the procedural device I use in DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEÑERA, I was very inspired by Destiny of Desire by Karen Zacarias. I left that play wondering: how can I use pop culture in a smarter way?
What advice would you give to aspiring playwrights?
I loved interning in the Literary Department for WP Theater in New York. I realized that so many of the playwrights I'd read in high school and loved had worked with WP. I went to readings in the city for them, did script coverage, and even got to read the work of mid-career writers. It helped me understand development of plays—and reading so many scripts that then became produced was helpful. I know it isn't always accessible, so if you can find new work theaters like the O'Neill or WP and offer to read script submissions for them—I think it's worth it!
Phanésia's reading recommendations to accompany your experience with DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEÑERA:
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
American Street by Ibi Zoboi
Nancy Drew (classic series) by Carolyn Keene