Lindsey Ferrentino is bringing “Amy and the Orphans” to Netflix. The playwright is set to make her feature directorial debut with the adaptation of her stage show. Variety broke the news.
The pic will follow Maggie and Jank, estranged siblings “who are adults by the time their elderly father dies, but still wish a ‘grown up’ could sort it out. Their biggest worry is determining how to break the bad news to their sister Amy, a person with Down syndrome who has lived in a state home for years. Over a Thanksgiving weekend, in which they travel to Long Island, the three siblings find out just how much they don’t know about their family — and each other,” the source teases.
Jamie Brewer portrayed Amy in the Off-Broadway production of “Amy and the Orphans” and won a Drama Desk Award for her performance. She’s the first actor with Down syndrome to land the honor.
Ferrentino penned the screenplay for “Not Fade Away,” an upcoming adaptation of Rebecca Alexandra’s memoir of the same name. Emily Blunt is set to topline the drama about a woman who loses her sight and hearing after being born with a rare genetic mutation.
“I feel like I’m interested in telling big political stories from the smallest details of everyday life,” Ferrentino told The Guardian in 2017. Her other plays include “Ugly Lies the Bone” and “This Flat Earth.”