Drama
About Refuse It: A Black Woman’s Guide to 21st Century Rage
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?
Phanésia Pharel is a Haitian-American playwright & screenwriter from a dragon fruit farm in Miami. She is the daughter of an immigrant teacher and farmer.
She made her Off-Broadway debut at WP Theater with her play The Waterfall, running January 31–March 1, 2026. She is the incoming Playwriting Fellow (2025-2027) at Emory University, where she will serve as a visiting professor and have a new play produced by their repertory company.
Her plays have been developed at the Eugene O’neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference, 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 an A is For Playwriting Award recipient.
She holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from Barnard College of Columbia University and an MFA in Playwriting from the University of California San Diego.
About Playfest
Orlando Shakes PlayFest is a two week long annual festival that provides a place for writers, theater professionals, and audiences to connect and share ideas that promote thought-provoking stories. Audiences experience staged readings of six new works over two weekends and participate in the development of new plays, conversing with playwrights, directors, and actors while absorbing groundbreaking new works.
Orlando Shakes is a core member of the National New Play Network, a nationwide organization devoted to developing new work through the New Play Exchange, rolling world premieres, the Producer-in-Residence Program, and annual conferences. Orlando Shakes prides itself on active participation within the national new play community while engaging its local audiences in the latest and greatest in playwriting.
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