Writer-Performer
FRANCESCA FORRISTAL
WRITER-PERFORMER
& DRAG KING
SCREENWRITER BY DAY, DRAG KING BY NIGHT.
For film & TV, Forristal is currently lead writer / EP on an adaption of Chloe Benjamin's The Immortalists with 21 Laps for Netflix, a wine-fraud heist series for Warp Films / Windlight Pictures, and a drama about Lord Byron with BBC Studios / Onerva Pictures. Their television credits include Marie Antoinette (episodes 4 & 5, BBC / PBS / CANAL+) and Blood, Sex, and Royalty (episodes 1, 2 & 3, Netflix). They're a BAFTA Connect member; and their stage play Oddball was a finalist in the Edinburgh TV Festival 2020 New Voice Awards (supported by Netflix). Meanwhile, their drag act @DRAGPROV) has featured at Glastonbury, on the BBC, and BBC Bitesize, improvising ‘Sequins, Spoofs, and Salaciousness!’ [Guardian] - one of the 'top names in the capital' [Guardian].
In development, Forristal has an original musical series about drag kings with Global UMG / Mercury Music, and is showrunner / lead writer on a Victorian animated romance developed with Legendary TV for Amazon Prime. They are also attached to showrun an adaptation of the novel Bliss and Blunder (a modern Arthurian legend meets Rivals) with Chosen Family Media. They have lead-written a four-part Victor Hugo adaptation for Game of Thrones producer Frank Doelger, with Peter Dinklage and Charles Dance attached to star.
Writing in collaboration with KT Roberts, they are lead writing and showrunning an adaptation about sex workers for Gaumont / Disney Germany, and creating and executive producing a YA dystopian romance with SeeSaw. For film, Forristal and KT co-wrote The Bunker Game, shot in Rome on a €3 million budget. Their spec feature, Don’t Tell Mum, was selected for the FrightFest New Blood Scheme before being picked up by ThreeSixZero, and they also have a modern gothic romance, Mariana, in development with Erebus Pictures.
And for Musical Theatre: Nominated for The Stage Award 2022 Best Book/Lyrics/Score writing, Forristal and musical co-writer Jordan Clarke's latest "original and edgy" [The Guardian] musical, PUBLIC DOMAIN, was The Times' Pick of the Week [The Times Hotlist] at the Southwark Playhouse, and has a West End transfer to The Vaudeville Theatre. Their other musical, P.S. I'm a Terrible Person - made the Styles and Drewe Mentorship Award shortlist 2021, and the Pleasance Theatre's 'Charlie Hartill Reserve Fund' Award 2019. It is currently in development. Forristal and Clarke received a merit award from LA New Voices Project 2021, supported by Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Entertainment. For more info about Forristal and Clarke Musicals, check out their website here.
For all things screen, get in touch with Jethro Thompson at Curtis Brown.
For Musical Theatre shenanigans, contact Helen Clarkson and Alastair Lindsey-Renton.
REVIEW: 'Blood, Sex & Royalty review – a terrific peek at Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s sexiest bits' - 4 Stars!
"Intelligent, vivid, energetic, funny, full-blooded and good-hearted [...] Boleyn is fresh, hilarious and credible - enabled and supported by a script that, like Blackadder in a minor key, manages to modernise and distil the essence of people, politics and plot in a way that snaps you awake and makes you see the old story anew. “King of France, patron of the arts,” she says wryly, looking over at Francis I disporting himself in a manner unbecoming. “And banging my sister.” The options on offer for women are swiftly encapsulated. “Everywhere I looked women were getting screwed. By cheating husbands, controlling husbands, gambling husbands. Or you could be a mistress. Screwed with no husband.”
Who cannot love Anne’s description of the two people who were to become her greatest obstacles? Particularly given the succinctness with which they capture the essence of the individuals and why they became such enemies to her success. There’s Cardinal Wolsey as “King Henry’s work wife”, and Anne’s thumbnail sketch of Catherine of Aragon: “Commanded an entire army on horseback, while pregnant. Respect.” Masterpieces of compression, both. And funny.' The Guardian
"Sharp, delicious satire. An original and edgy show, recommended! Performed to pitch perfection by Forristal."
Arifa Akbar - THE GUARDIAN, 2021
PUBLIC DOMAIN
at the Vaudeville Theatre, 2021
P.S. I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON
P.S. I’m A Terrible Person is a dark comedy musical about addiction inspired by true events, currently in development. This show is the high before a caffeine-crash. It's twisted, and funny, and addictive. Provoking frank, much-needed conversations about disordered eating with all the high-octane headiness of a modern musical.
The cast for the Sept, 2021 workshop included Nicole Raquel Dennis (Dear Even Hansen), Piers Bate (Waitress), Charlotte Vaughan (The Phantom of the Opera), Lewis Cornay (The Book of Mormon), Lottie Johnson (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and Francesca Forristal as Martha Weiss.
and the same).
THE BUNKER GAME
Horror feature, out on Shudder now.
Eagle Pictures and Canal Plus, 2022 French-Italian horror film directed by Roberto Zazzara. Shot in Rome in early 2021 at a budget of €3 million, starring Gaia Weiss, Mark Ryder, Lorenzo Richelmy, Amina Ben Ismaïl, Tudor Istodor and Makita Samba.
DRAGPROV PRESS
BBC Feature Video - Life as a London Drag King
THE METRO - I'm a Drag King by F. Forristal
EVENING STANDARD - Top Ten LGBTQ Shows to see in London
QX Magazine - Drag Kings and Body Dysmorphia by F. Forristal
BACKSTAGE - Gender Bending Artform Taking London by Storm
