Student Blog: Writing for Yourself

Howdy y’all! Happy to have you back for the fifth issue of my series about UC San Diego’s cohort of MFA playwrights. You already know I had to save an amazing story for part five, and so it’s my great privilege to introduce my mentor, colleague, and friend: third-year Phanésia Pharel! She’s a deeply poetic and remarkably thoughtful writer whose thesis production I happen to be part of during this year’s Wagner New Play Festival. Although she’s far too humble to admit it herself, she’s one of the most profound up-and-coming playwrights working today. 

Pharel grew up in Miami and received a BA in Urban Studies from Columbia University, after which she became a literary intern at the WP Theater in New York as well as a core apprentice at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. Each of these ended up being immensely valuable to her in its own way. She believes that any student looking towards a career in theater should find a theater producing the work that they are interested in, WP being her perfect example since it’s a theater that showcases women's work and stories. The latter ended up being the unexpected nudge that moved her towards applying for graduate school. 

Grad school was never something she wanted to do until Minneapolis. There, she was introduced to dramaturg Amrita Ramanan, who tipped her off about the program at UCSD. Not only is it a program where its playwrights continue to work throughout the duration of their study, but it’s “a program that [provides] writers with a lot of clarity on how to make the transition from playwright to TV writer.” She also was drawn in by the idea of getting to teach, which she fell in love with while working at the viBe Theater Experience in Brooklyn. What sealed the deal was a discussion with professor Deborah Stein, and she recalls that “[Stein] said that when you come to UCSD you’re invited to consider a body of work, and [Pharel] was excited by that.” 

Her major dramatic interest encompasses the exploration of all kinds of love felt and shared by Black and Brown women. Such an interest has led her to the unicorn of a rage play that she knighted as her thesis: Refuse It: A Black Woman’s Guide to 21st Century Rage. Like Company, this play is a series of vignettes strung together by one woman’s presence, that being Dr. Kim Bowenski, a Black woman who serves her community as a culturally competent therapist who specializes in caring for other Black women. Through glimpses into the lives of her patients, the piece begs to ask: if racism has supposedly gone away as so many claim, then why do Black women still suffer? 

Refuse It, as well as Dead Girl’s Quiceñera— her stunning piece from last year’s WNPF— are plays that exist very near and dear to her heart that she feels could not have happened anywhere else the way they did. Program head Naomi Iizuka would take a look at the play ideas circulating in Pharel’s mind and guide her to “write the play that you’re writing for yourself.” Aside from the practical constraints that come from a production-oriented writing process, there were no major roadblocks to telling the most personal stories imaginable. She notes on her time writing before UCSD that “there’s a part of you that’s like ‘is this a play that can get me something? Can this play get me a job?’” and so without having the anxiety of turning a profit in mind, there was infinitely more freedom to ask the questions she wanted to ask and write the plays she wanted to write. 

As Stein had promised, Pharel has found tremendous growth in finding the singularity of her voice as a writer. She was presented with the opportunity to dissect and examine the inner workings of her favorite plays— pieces like ‘night, Mother by Marsha Norman and August Osage County by Tracy Letts among them— and finding what makes her gravitate towards them. Upon consideration, she finds that Stein and Iizuka led her towards discovering herself within these pieces, which allowed her ideas to blossom into the beautiful works that have graced the WNPF each of the last three years. Pharel as an artist is obsessed with looking at a new script and wondering “what can this play teach me?” 

Aside from looking into a literary internship, which provides an invaluable inside look at the kinds of scripts coming across today’s theatrical desk, Pharel’s big advice pertains to building your community around you. It might sound cliche, but it’s true. She notes the key distinction of forming a connection not just with someone who’s found great success in your field, but someone who did so recently, since “the person who really knows how to get your first job on a TV show is the person who got their first job on a TV show a year ago.” Eliana Pipes, her best friend today, began as her mentor in college. But once they moved past the formality of that dynamic, their relationship continued to grow deeper and deeper. The realization that she was going to be a lifelong friend made her reflect on how “there are actually people who want to see other people succeed… it doesn’t always have to be competition. We can be in community with each other.” Sharing joy and reveling in each other's successes is one of the great gifts we artists can give one another. May we all continue to do so by following her radiant example.

Thank you so much for reading, and a million thank yous to Phanésia for the sparkling conversation! Fun fact- this whole project was her idea. I feel immensely fortunate to have been her playwriting student in the winter, and to call an artist as stupendously talented as her my friend. She is such a joy to be in a classroom and a rehearsal room with, and I can give you the most enthusiastic vouch that being in her company has made me ten times the artist I was before we met.

Dear reader, I must confess that I lied about something. Remember when I said this was a five-part series? You might want to buckle up for next time. I’ve got something extra special on its way to you by the end of the month.