WORDS MATTER
Intrepid Museum, Pier 86, W 46th St, New York, NY 10036, USA @ 7:00 pm
Each year, The Workshop Theater commissions four writers to create short plays inspired by prompts related to a non-profit organization. We're thrilled to welcome this year's playwrights for Words Matter:
Monet Hurst-Mendoza
Mariana Carreño King
Phanésia Pharel
Caridad Svich
This year, we've partnered with Veteran's Spouse Project. Each playwright was paired with a veteran spouse from VSP and created a new play based on those conversations. The four new plays are cast and produced for an evening celebrating the work of that non-profit, with contributions directly benefiting Veteran's Spouse Project.
Please make plans to join us on The Intrepid for readings of 4 new plays, starting at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish, with a recommended contribution of $25 per person.
What Remains by Monet Hurst-Mendoza with Jacqueline Guillén and Karsten Otto
That Thing Over There by Mariana Carreño King
I Need Somebody Club by Phanésia Pharel
Battle Buddies by Caridad Svich
Mariana Carreño is a playwright, stage director and translator. Mariana has worked with Intar, LAByrinth, The Lark, La MaMa, The Atlantic, Stages Repertory, Iati, and Mabou Mines, among others. Mariana’s plays include Truckers (Intar Theatre, Humanitas, LA); Sasha's House of Love, and The Red Gene (LAByrinth); Miss 74489 (2014 Winner, MetLife Nuestras Voces, Repertorio Español Prod.); and Ofelia’s Lovers (Mabou Mines); among others. She has translated many plays from English to Spanish, including The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kris Diaz and Worship by Eduardo Machado; and from Spanish to English, such as Decomposition by Alfonso Cárcamo and Schnauzer Duck by Saul Enríquez (No Passport Press); and the book of short stories Love that Kill by Rosa Beltran. Mariana is a member of LAByrinth Theatre Company, and Alumna, Hispanic Playwrights in Residence Lab (HPRL) at Intar. Mariana is an Associate Professor of Playwriting at SUNY Purchase College.
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 will make her Off-Broadway debut at the 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 full-length plays include THE WATERFALL, DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEÑERA, 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’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.