Lindsey Ferrentino

Last updated
Lindsey Ferrentino
Ferrentino Rehearsals Photo.jpg
Education New York University (BFA)
Hunter College (MFA)
Yale University (MFA)
Occupation(s)Playwright, Screenwriter
Father John Ferrentino
Website Official website

Lindsey Ferrentino is an American contemporary playwright and screenwriter.

Contents

Adrien Brody and Lindsey Ferrentino arrive at the 2025 Laurence Olivier Awards Lindsey Ferrentino and Adrien Brody arrive at the Olivier Awards 2025.jpg
Adrien Brody and Lindsey Ferrentino arrive at the 2025 Laurence Olivier Awards

Early life

Lindsey Ferrentino is the daughter of comedian and magician John Ferrentino. [1] [2]

Adrien Brody and Lindsey Ferrentino arrive at the Olivier Awards 2025 Adrien Brody and Lindsey Ferrentino arrive at the Olivier Awards 2025.jpg
Adrien Brody and Lindsey Ferrentino arrive at the Olivier Awards 2025


Career

Ugly Lies The Bone

Ugly Lies the Bone was a New York Times Critic's Pick and played a sold-out, extended run at Roundabout Theatre in the year 2015. In The New York Times review of the play Charles Isherwood wrote that Ferrentino was "a brave playwright of dauntless conviction whose unflinching portraits are hard to come by outside of journalism." [3] [4] Deadline Hollywood described Ugly Lies the Bone as, "clearly the work of a young talent with plenty ahead of her." [5] The Observer described it as, "raw and inescapably moving. A play of small moments that hide big emotions." [6] Ferrentino received the 2016 Kesselring Prize for Ugly Lies the Bone. [7] It was later produced at The National Theatre in London in the 900-seat Lyttleton Theatre in 2017. [8]

Amy and the Orphans

In 2018, Amy and the Orphans premiered at Roundabout Theatre Company and was called "barrier breaking" in the New York Times. Featuring American Horror Story's Jamie Brewer, Amy and the Orphans is the first Off-Broadway (or Broadway) show to have an actor with Down syndrome in a leading role. [9] In the New York Times review of Amy and the Orphans, Brantley wrote that Ferrentino "possesses a muscular empathy which seeks to enter the minds of people for whom life is often a struggle of heroic proportions." [10] Ferrentino, Brewer, and Eddie Barbanell received the Catalyst Awards Entertainment Industry Excellence Award for Amy and the Orphans., [11]

This Flat Earth

In 2018, This Flat Earth ran at Playwrights Horizons. The New York Times wrote that This Flat Earth is "Ferrentino's most daring play to date, with profound and essential subjects. She is bravely attempting to contextualize 21st-century horrors within the sort of existential framework in which Thornton Wilder and Edward Albee specialized." [12]

The Year To Come

In December 2018, the play The Year to Come premiered. The show is a reverse-chronological drama about an American family reuniting each New Year’s Eve, revealing how political and personal rifts evolve over time. Set around a backyard pool, the play explores how a family—and a nation—fractures and heals across decades. The show opened at La Jolla Playhouse and was a Critic's Pick by the San Diego Tribune. [13] It was well reviewed by the San Diego Tribune. [14]

Not Fade Away

Ferrentino's first film, Not Fade Away, was in development at Annapurna Pictures, as of March 2019, produced by David O. Russell and John Krasinski, starring Emily Blunt. [15]

Amy: The Film

In 2021, it was announced that Ferrentino would write and direct Amy, a film adaptation of her stage play Amy and the Orphans, for Netflix, with Aggregate Films attached to produce. [16]

In relation to upcoming film projects, in a 2024 Hollywood Reporter article, Ferrentino was named Netflix's 'Go-To' Writer. [17] The article also announced a "Playboy" film in the works and an adaptation of Rebecca Yaros' best-selling novel "In the Likely Event," both penned by Ferrentino for Netflix. [18]

The Artist

The Artist, which Ferrentino co-adapted for the stage with Drew McOnie from the 2011 Oscar-winning film, opened at the Royal Plymouth in the UK in 2024. The show (which features almost no spoken words) reimagines the silent movie, blending vibrant choreography and period music to celebrate Hollywood's transition from silent films to talkies. The Guardian reviewed the piece as an "effervescent and delightfully inventive stage show". [19]

The Queen of Versailles

Ferrentino's first stage musical, The Queen of Versailles, is set to open on Broadway in 2025. The show, which stars Kristin Chenoweth and F. Murray Abraham, is a stylish and piercing adaptation of the 2008 documentary following David and Jackie Segal as they attempt to build the biggest home in America (modeled of the palace of Versailles) before the financial crisis brings construction to a halt. The music and lyrics were written by Stephen Schwartz.

Tony Awards 2025 - Lindsey Ferrentino and Kristin Chenoweth Tony Awards 2025 - Lindsey Ferrentino and Kristin Chenoweth.jpg
Tony Awards 2025 - Lindsey Ferrentino and Kristin Chenoweth

The Fear of 13

Most recently, Ferrentino debuted her Olivier nominated play The Fear of 13 (also a documentary adaptation) to London audiences at the Donmar Theater. The production featured Adrien Brody as Nick Yarris, a death-row prisoner convicted of a murder that he did not commit. Both Ferrentino and Brody were nominated for an Olivier Award.

Style

Ferrentino is known for writing character led stories that live within larger national narratives. The New York Times wrote that Ferrentino "possesses a muscular empathy which seeks to enter the minds of people for whom life is often a struggle of heroic proportions" [10] and called her "a dramatist willing to wrestle with overpowering contemporary subjects." Ferrentino's 2015 off-Broadway hit Ugly Lies The Bone cemented her as a singular voice amongst contemporary playwrights, the New York Times lauding her as "A brave playwright of dauntless conviction whose unflinching portraits are hard to come by outside of journalism." Following the August 2024 world premiere of her new musical The Queen of Versailles, Variety praised her as having "a moral conscience second to none among her generation of playwrights." [20] [12]

Awards and honors

Ferrentino's awards and honors include the 2016 Kesselring Prize, [7] Laurents/Hatcher Citation of Excellence, [21] ASCAP Cole Porter Playwriting Prize, [22] Paul Newman Drama Award, [23] 2015 Kilroys List, [24] finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, [25] the Catalyst Awards Entertainment Industry Excellence Award, [11] NYU Distinguished Young Alumna Award, [22] nominated for the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award, [26] and is the only two-time finalist for the Kendeda Playwriting Prize. [27]

Personal life

Ferrentino has been engaged to British actor Ralf Little since 2018. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 Morris, Nicky (26 December 2023). "Meet Death in Paradise star Ralf Little's famous fiancée". HELLO!. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  2. "Authors: Lindsey Ferrentino", A Concord Theatricals Company Samuel French, 2019
  3. Charles Isherwood, "Review: 'Ugly Lies the Bone,' With Mamie Gummer as a Combat Veteran", The New York Times, October 13, 2015
  4. Olivia Clement, "Lindsey Ferrentino Tells Another Underrepresented Story in Amy and the Orphans", Playbill, March 3, 2018
  5. Gerard, Jeremy (2015-10-14). "Mamie Gummer's Disfigured Vet Tries VR In 'Ugly Lies The Bone' – Review". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  6. "A Trifle on Adultery Is Overshadowed by Mamie Gummer's Portrayal of a Wounded Soldier". Observer. 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  7. 1 2 Andrew R. Chow, "The Playwright Lindsey Ferrentino Wins the Kesselring Prize", The New York Times, September 4, 2016
  8. Brian Logan, "Ugly Lies the Bone review – war veteran faces her demons in virtual reality rehab", The Guardian, March 2, 2017
  9. Sopan Deb, "A Barrier Breaks: An Actress With Down Syndrome Plays the Lead", The New York Times, February 14, 2018
  10. 1 2 Ben Brantley, "Three Degrees of Loneliness in 'Amy and the Orphans'", The New York Times, March 1, 2018
  11. 1 2 Olivia Clement, "Amy and the Orphans Recipient of The Arc's Catalyst Award", Playbill, November 7, 2018
  12. 1 2 Ben Brantley, "This Flat Earth' Traces Childhood Fears No Parent Can Allay", The New York Times, April 9, 2018
  13. James Herbert, "Review: La Jolla Playhouse's compelling 'The Year to Come' a grand family story set on rewind", The San Diego Tribune, December 10, 2018
  14. "Review: La Jolla Playhouse's compelling 'The Year to Come' a grand family story set on rewind". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  15. Vlessing, Etan (March 21, 2019). "Emily Blunt in Talks to Join Annapurna Drama 'Not Fade Away'". The Hollywood Reporter .
  16. Rubin, Rebecca (2021-03-16). "Netflix to Adapt 'Amy and the Orphans' Play With Director Lindsey Ferrentino (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  17. Ford, Lily (October 10, 2024). "Hollywood's Hottest Ticket: Meet Netflix's "Go-To" Writer, Lindsey Ferrentino".
  18. Ford, Lily (October 21, 2024). "Netflix Developing Film Adaptation of Rebecca Yarros Novel 'In the Likely Event' (Exclusive)".
  19. Wiegand, Chris (May 20, 2024). "The Artist review – peppy stage show adds volume to silent cinema hit" via The Guardian.
  20. Verini, Bob (2024-08-02). "'The Queen of Versailles' Review: Kristin Chenoweth Shines in a Lavish New Musical With a Social Satire Bite". Variety. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
  21. Adam Hetrick, "Playwright Rajiv Joseph's Guards at the Taj Wins Laurents/Hatcher Award; Playwright Lindsey Ferrentino Also Honored", Playbill, January 29, 2015
  22. 1 2 "NYUAA Award Honorees", NYU, 2018
  23. "WOODWARD/NEWMAN DRAMA AWARD", BPP, 2015
  24. "THE LIST 2015: The Top 7%", The Kilroys', 2015
  25. "The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize", The Blackburn Prize, 2015
  26. Gordon Cox, "Outer Critics Circle Nominations: 'American Psycho,' 'She Loves Me' Take the Lead (FULL LIST)", Variety, April 19, 2016
  27. "Winners and Finalists", Alliance Theatre, 2019