Review: DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEAÑERA at Goodman Theatre

Dead Girl’s Quinceañera brings a missing person case to the stage — and the detectives are a group of three Latina teen girls in Miami, Florida. Phanésia Pharel’s play capitalizes on the pop culture obsession with true crime and murder mysteries — though Dead Girl’s Quinceañera is ultimately more of a cozy one. Alas, the play’s concept is perhaps more clever than the resulting content. While the mystery may be solved in the end, Pharel’s narrative has some plot holes and non-sequiturs.

Some of those non-sequiturs might be classic teenage fumbles, as Pharel’s characters navigate not only the mystery of their missing friend Maria but also the larger mysteries of adolescence. Pharel presents some prototypical teens in the young women on stage. Some of the characters are more fully realized than others. 

Salma (Jacqueline Guillén) is the leader of the pack. She calls her friends Phoebe and Este to their usual hang-out shed, which becomes a command center for finding Maria. Posters of Olivia Rodrigo and Beyoncé become replaced by an intricate web detailing all of the suspects and possible motives for the case. Salma has pluck, and she aspires to one day become president of the United States. Her plan to win the office includes some unhinged one-liners. 

Some of Salma’s declarations feel at odds with Pharel’s “girl power” message. And Pharel sometimes uses her missing girl set-up to turn this into too much of an issues play. Dead Girl’s Quinceañera references many other cases of missing young women (and particularly women of color). That’s definitely valid, but the play sometimes becomes mired in topical references — the girls have a long list of references from TikTok to “the psycho PTA mom Facebook group” to Gabby Petito. The references become occasionally exhausting and didactic, rather than driving the story forward. 

Pharel’s play is more successful at depicting the camaraderie and complicated nature of teen female friendship. One of the play’s most charming moments is a special friend handshake called a “milkshake” that Salma and Maria’s cousin Phoebe (Ariana Burks) share. But because this is high school, new friend Este (Carmen Berkeley) isn’t allowed in on the inside joke. The drama on stage isn’t just about finding Maria, but also the way in which the dynamics between Salma, Phoebe, and Este shift over the course of the play. 

Directed by Melia Bensussen, the main trio were convincing as close friends (they’re joined in the ensemble by Andrea Ferro). None of the performers legitimately read as 15-years-old, but Burks, Guillen, and Berkeley have youthful, vibrant energy. Guillen plays Salma’s overconfidence well, which, no surprise, masks some underlying insecurities. While she has plenty of command, Guillen occasionally rushes through her lines. Burks is cheerful and earnest as Phoebe, though Pharel’s script doesn’t give her many defining personality traits. 

Este feels the most lived-in of the main teens. She’s a scholarship student at the well-resourced Miami private school the young women attend, and she’s an immigrant from El Salvador who works after school at a chicken shop. While those are just facts, Pharel has also written Este a beautiful monologue that brings her interiority to life. In it, Este, imagines what it would be like if her family could afford a quinceañera celebration for her. Berkeley is supremely charming, wide-eyed, and eager. And in this monologue, she portrays Este’s wistfulness gorgeously — allowing us to genuinely see a more vulnerable side to a sweet and sunny character. Berkeley is the most captivating performer on this stage. Ferro appears later in the play as another member of the friend group, though she has a regal and quiet energy that doesn’t read like the way a teenager would carry herself. 

Dead Girl’s Quinceañera has some funny moments, and the teen vocabulary that Este, Phoebe, and Salma share feels specific. The three friends share their own vernacular, and that’s what feels the most real and resonant in this play. Period. 

The overarching storyline and social commentary often feel like they’re overreaching, simultaneously too pointed and sometimes untidy. Like the teens in the play, Dead Girl’s Quinceañera seems like it needs more time to truly discover what it wants to be. 

Dead Girl’s Quinceañera, co-produced with Barrington Stage and Hartford Stage, plays in the Owen Theatre at Goodman Theatre, 170 North Dearborn, through November 1, 2026. Tickets are $34-$79.

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