Meet Federica Borlenghi

We recently connected with Federica Borlenghi and have shared our conversation below.

Federica, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Art has been my preferred form of expression since a very young age. I’ve always leaned on art when it comes to processing the world, navigating my feelings, and being in community.

I had a very multidisciplinary education, and found great solace and entertainment in various art forms, including writing, photography, film, painting, playing and making music, acting, creating artifacts! No matter the medium, I was – and still am – voracious to create, craft, curate. Once it came to my higher education, I chose to attend an interdisciplinary university, The New School, where I could continue pursuing all of my creative overlapping interests, without having to favor one over others. That’s when I discovered my calling: directing for the theater, where I got to put into practice all of my artistic interests.

As a director, I adore assisting writers in cracking stories open earlier in the process, achieving a deep understanding of their message, themes, characters, and fairly represent them on the stage. I love closely collaborating with designers to merge compelling, bold, sensorial, highly stylized designs, to elevate the storytelling and emotional life of a play. And I can never get enough when it comes to rehearsing with actors; understanding the pulse of a character, building the arch of the show, and discovering its rhythm together in the rehearsal room must be one of my favorite things.

In the past year and a half, I had the luck of directing premieres of original, impactful plays, dealing with themes dear to my heart: the immigrant experience, anti-fascism, consent, provoking questions through untold stories, the consequences of lack of protection in childhood, the importance of sexual education, generational trauma. Working on content so aligned with my values strengthened my mission, and allowed me to solidify my purpose: addressing the unaddressed through my art; sharing stories that speak of the solitude that comes with precarious mental health, content that validates the insecurities and traumas that we carry as individuals as well as as a society, stories that break vicious cycles.

Some of these shows include “Until Dark”, my original play, produced by Et Alia Theater at Out Of The Box Theatrics in the Winter of 2024 (which was also translated in Spanish and produced by Teatro Pùblico in San Juan, Puerto Rico), “Building My Casa” by Braulio Basilio, produced by Teatro 220 and presented at LaMama Experimental Theater in January 2025, and “At The Barricades”, by Sam Hood Adrain & James Clements, produced by What Will The Neighbors Say? at Mitu580 this past June.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a multimedia artist from Milan, Italy, based in Brooklyn. Predominantly a Writer and Director, I specialize in development of new work for the stage. I also actively work in the theatrical landscape as a Producer, Photographer, and as a Costume, Set, and Prop Designer.

I am currently creative producing an adaption of a new play, “Bike Shop”, by Covi Loveridge Brannan, Costume Designing two productions for the New York Film Academy, marinating my new upcoming playwriting focus, and hunting for a new play to direct and/or develop!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Be generously kind.
2. You never know who’ll have the best idea in the room.
3. If, like me, you have numerous passions and interests, don’t pressure yourself from picking one to specialize in. I often felt like a “Jack of all trades, master of none”, but actively cultivating all disciplines introduced me to numerous artists and organizations, and some even ended up opening doors for my directing career too! Not to mention, it turned me into a sharper, full-rounded director, by provided me with a deep, first-hand understanding of what each department requires in order to be set up to succeed.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Although I am proud and thrilled of being able to sustain myself fully off of theater, being exclusively gig-based – especially with the costs of living in New York – can be incredibly exhausting. The rhythms I sustain during the busier months of a theatrical season can be quite unsustainable. These periods inevitably have a very negative impact on the quality of my personal life. I am tired of seeing time dedicated to rest and to myself as luxury. I am spending time preparing for this upcoming season pondering on strategies to better distribute my workload in weeks with overlapping projects. I am also considering more carefully which ones to take on, based on which ones will provide me with a healthier balance between adequate compensation, personal artistic interest, and time commitment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://federicaborlenghi.com
• Instagram: @fedeborlenghi

Image Credits

Alexia Haick