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phanesiapharel

@phanesiapharel

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Writing 🤎 of Black and Caribbean women.
DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEÑERA is @goodmantheatre 9/26-11/1
American Theatre Magazine named me an "Artist to Watch."

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🎭 PLAYFEST 2026 SPOTLIGHT ✊🏾🔥 What happens when you refuse to play by the rules?

We sat down with Phanésia Pharrel (playwright from last year’s Dead Girl’s Quinceañera) to talk all things “REFUSE IT: A BLACK WOMAN’S GUIDE TO 21ST CENTURY RAGE” — a darkly comedic, unapologetically defiant new play about Black women challenging the status quo, rejecting the roles society tries to force on them, and asking a BIG question: If the world has supposedly gotten better, why don’t we feel better?

Through a kaleidoscope of vignettes, “REFUSE IT” takes on shame, expectations, and the weight of the past with plenty to say and absolutely nothing to apologize for. 🔥

“REFUSE IT” is presented by Dr. Rick Schell and Mr. Scott Joseph.
PlayFest 2026 is presented by The More Good Fund and Michael Dively with additional support by Frank Santos and Corbett Compel

📆 November 7 | 7 pm
🎟️ orlandoshakes.org/npd/playfest/

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We love it when a playwright is for the girls, but let's be real: the themes in Dead Girl's Quinceañera are important for everyone to see And you still have time!

Congrats to Phanésoa Pharel on this delightful rolling world premiere. Can't wait to see where it goes next!

#chicagotheatre #newplay #truecrime #theatre #quinceanera

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The show extended to November 8th! Consider me a @phanesiapharel fan for life. I loved this show and can’t wait to see where it goes next. PERIOD!

Also shout out to my theater influencer friend @theaterinchicago for letting me use her bows video because I forgot to get one.

#theater #review #chicago #chicagotheater #theaterreview

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Dead Girl’s Quinceañera is currently play at the Goodman Theatre as part of its traveling world premiere.

A fantastic play written by Phanésia Pharel, where we meet Salma, Phoebe and Este on a mission to figure out what happened and why Maria disappeared from her quinceañera.

It has been extended until November 8th, but you’ll want to make sure you get your tickets before it sells out!

PERIOD

Thanks for the ticket Bekah!

@goodmantheatre
@phanesiapharel

#play #whodoneit #worldpremiere #quinceañera #chicago

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Chicago was the PERFECT choice for my birthday! What a gorgeous city, and seeing three friends was the cherry on top of a beautiful sister trip. The energy and love let me know this year will be a great one. I can’t wait to visit next summer 🥳

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Are you a college student who loves a suspenseful story, all-you-can-eat pizza and good vibes? Join us for College Night at The Goodman—the DEAD GIRL'S QUINCEAÑERA edition.

🍕 We invite you to experience #DeadGirlsQuinceanera—along with a pre-show reception including all-you-can-eat pizza and pop.

📅 Join us on Wednesday, October 28 at 6pm. RSVP at GoodmanTheatre.org/CollegeNight

#GoodmanTheatre #Theatre #Networking #Events #ThingsToDoChicago

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💃 Ever secretly wished you had, or were invited to a quinceañera? Now is your chance!

👠 A Education and Engagement team CONTEXT event celebrating culture, tradition, and your inner adolescent at The Goodman’s own quinceañera.

🪩 Presented with the Latine Affinity Group, the evening will feature food, music, dancing, and quinceañera joy.

📆 Friday, October 23 at 6pm.

🎟️ Join us at GoodmanTheatre.org/GoodmanQuince

📸: Justin Barbin

#GoodmanTheatre #DeadGirlsQuinceanera #HispanicHeritageMonth #ThingsToDoChicago

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👏 Cue the applause—DEAD GIRL'S QUINCEAÑERA has been extended by popular demand through November 8! Visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Girls to see this "darkly hilarious take on true crime obsession" (BroadwayWorld).

#GoodmanTheatre #DeadGirlsQuinceanera #Theatre #ThingsToDoChicago

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I keep thinking about this @barringtonstage show by @phanesiapharel Dead Girl's Quinceanera is in Chicago now but comes to @hartfordstage March 5-20. Here's something I started writing about it:

Have you ever wondered what the "Real Housewives of Miami" were like as teenagers?

Imagine those women, brimming with adolescent bravado, trying to navigate high school, friendships, romance and puberty. The Spanglish flies hard and fast. They trip through emotions even faster and harder. Now imagine them poised to celebrate the most important cultural moment of their young lives — the quinceañera. Take all of that, throw in a missing person's case à la "Search Party," and you have playwright Phanesia Pharel's new dark comedy, "Dead Girl's Quinceañera."
Photo by Andrew Cromartie for Barrington Stage.

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Chicago’s theatre scene is buzzing right now, and three very different productions are offering audiences some of the most exciting storytelling of the season.

If you’re looking for work that feels immediate, youthful, and culturally alive, Goodman Theatre’s Dead Girl’s Quinceañera is a standout. Phanèsia Pharel’s world‑premiere captures the messy brilliance of being fifteen — the humor, the fear, the rapid‑fire thinking, and the way friendship becomes both a lifeline and a battleground. As Salma and her friends launch their detective‑style search for a missing girl, the play blends danger with warmth, cultural specificity with teenage chaos, and sharp writing with a pulse that never slows.

For audiences craving a classic thriller, Oil Lamp Theatre’s Dial M for Murder offers a tightly wound, intimate jolt of suspense. Their signature close‑quarters staging makes every twist land harder, every revelation feel sharper, and every moment of tension ripple through the room. It’s a smart, stylish reminder of how satisfying a well‑crafted mystery can be when you’re close enough to feel the characters think.

And if October has you leaning toward the eerie, Chicago City Opera’s Der Vampyr delivers a rare operatic haunting across three atmospheric venues. Whether you catch it at Colvin House on October 7, Fulton Street Art Center on October 9, or Skokie Theatre on October 11, Marschner’s early Romantic horror comes alive through immersive staging, rich ensemble work, and historic spaces that amplify every shadow and whisper. It’s a gothic thrill you won’t find anywhere else this month.

With three productions offering youthful intensity, classic suspense, and gothic October atmosphere, this is the perfect moment to dive into the depth and variety of Chicago theatre.

#ChicagoTheatre #ChicagoArts #GoodmanTheatre @goodmantheatre #DeadGirlsQuinceanera #OilLampTheatre @oillamptheatre #DialMForMurder #ChicagoCityOpera @chicagocityopera #DerVampyr #ColvinHouse @colvinhouse #FultonStreetArtCenter #SkokieTheatre @skokietheatre #LivePerformance #WorldPremiere #SiteSpecificTheatre #OctoberEvents #SupportTheArts #ChiArtsScene #MustSeeTheatre #GothicOpera #ThrillerOnStage #NewPlay

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Goodman Theatre’s Dead Girl’s Quinceañera turns teenage imagination into a full‑blown investigation as Salma and her friends chase clues, crack jokes, and stumble into truths far bigger than they expect. It’s fast, funny, unsettling, and beautifully rooted in the cultural identities that shape these girls’ world.

Review link in bio!

@goodmantheatre #DeadGirlsQuinceanera #GoodmanTheatre #ChicagoTheatre #ChicagoArts #LatinxTheatre #WorldPremiere #TeenDrama #NewPlay #PhanesiaPharel #MeliaBensussen #ChicagoStage #TheatreLife #SupportTheArts #LivePerformance #CulturalStories #IdentityAndBelonging #AmericanTheatre #StageMagic #ChiArtsScene #MustSeeTheatre

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Gabriela Furtado Coutinho makes friends with the DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEAÑERA team, a new play by @phanesiapharel about a missing persons investigation led by 15-year-old Latinas in Miami, which she describes as “explosive, full of unprecedented evidence in girl genius and the honesty of my lived experience.” A co-production between @goodmantheatre, @hartfordstage, and @barringtonstage, this rolling world premiere has us in our feels about adolescent friendship, resilience, and power. As the protagonists would say… “PERIODDDD!”

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