Lauren Yee (Chinese: 余秀菊[1][2]) is an American playwright.

Lauren Yee
OccupationPlaywright
EducationYale University (BA)
University of California, San Diego (MFA)
SpouseZachery Zwillinger
Website
laurenyee.com

Early life and education edit

Yee was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She graduated from Lowell High School in 2003.[3]

Yee graduated from Yale University in 2007, majoring in English and Theatre Arts. She then attended University of California, San Diego's MFA playwriting program.[4]

Career edit

Yee is a member of the Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab[5] and a Playwrights’ Center Core Writer and has worked under commission from the Goodman Theatre, Lincoln Center, and Mixed Blood.[6]

Personal life edit

Yee met an attorney named Zachary Zwillinger at Yale. The couple later married at San Francisco in September 2012.[7]

Plays edit

Awards and honors edit

The awards/honors are in reverse chronological order.

2019

2018

  • Horton Foote Prize for Outstanding New American Play for Cambodian Rock Band.[24]
  • Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist for The Great Leap[25]
  • Princeton University MacKall Gwinn Hodder Fellows for the 2018–2019 academic year.[26]

2017

2016

2015

  • The Kilroys List Top 50 (for King of the Yees and The Tiger Among Us)
  • Susan Smith Blackburn nominee (for in a word)
  • The Chance Theatre playwright-in-residence[30]
  • Theatre Bay Area Award nominee – Outstanding World Premiere Play (for Hookman)

2014

  • Lark Playwrights’ Week playwright (for The Tiger Among Us)
  • Constance Saltonstall Foundation residency Berkeley Rep Ground Floor finalist (for King of the Yees)
  • Leah Ryan Prize for Emerging Women Playwrights runner-up (for The Tiger Among Us)

2013

  • O’Neill Conference playwright (for Samsara)[31]
  • Sundance Theatre Lab finalist (for in a word) Playwrights’ Center Core Writer (2013-2016)
  • Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation grant (with the Goodman Theatre, for King of the Yees)
  • Playwrights Realm Page One resident playwright
  • Second Stage Theatre – Shank playwright-in-residence
  • UCross Foundation residency
  • L. Arnold Weissberger Award nominee (for Samsara)
  • Gerbode Foundation Playwright Commissioning Award (with Encore Theatre Company)

2012

  • Susan Smith Blackburn Prize nominee (for Samsara)
  • Bay Area Playwrights Festival winner (for Samsara)
  • Ma-Yi Writers Lab playwright (2012–present) PEN USA Literary Award for Drama finalist (for A Man, his Wife, and his Hat)
  • Time Warner fellow at the Women's Project Playwrights Lab
  • Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominee (for Crevice)
  • Kitchen Dog Theatre's New Works Festival winner (for A Man, his Wife, and his Hat)
  • East West Players’ Face of the Future Playwriting Competition third place (for Samsara)
  • Aurora Theatre Global Age Project finalist (for in a word)

2011

  • PlayPenn Conference playwright (for A Man, his Wife, and his Hat)
  • KCACTF's Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award winner (for in a word)
  • KCACTF's Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award winner (for in a word)
  • IICAS Student Research Travel Grant recipient (for Mu Performing Arts commission)

2010

  • MAP Fund grantee (with Mu Performing Arts)
  • Hangar Theater Lab Company playwright-in-residence (for in a word)
  • Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting (for Ching Chong Chinaman)[32]
  • El Gouna Writers’ Residency fellow

2009

  • MacDowell Colony fellow
  • Public Theater Emerging Writers Group member
  • Theatre Bay Area New Works Fund commission (with AlterTheater)
  • Wasserstein Prize finalist PONY Fellowship finalist
  • Jerome Fellowship finalist (selected)
  • American Antiquarian Society – Robert and Charlotte Baron fellow
  • Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers fellow
  • 2008 Princess Grace Award finalist (for Ching Chong Chinaman)
  • Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation grantee Dramatists Guild fellow New York Mills Arts Retreat writer-in-residence
  • Edward F. Albee Foundation fellow PlayGround June Anne Baker Prize winner/commission (for Crevice)

2007

  • Kumu Kahua Theatre Pacific Rim Prize winner (for Ching Chong Chinaman)[33]

References edit

  1. ^ "博客來-回望彼岸:亞美劇場研究在台灣". Books.com.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  2. ^ Ren, Richard (May 4, 2019). ""2019年度全美十大华人杰出青年"榜单公布". All America Chinese Youth Federation (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Xie, Jocelyn. "Lowell Alumna, First Chinese-American playwright to win Kesselring Prize". The Lowell. Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  4. ^ Chen, Teresa. "Lauren Yee: Making the Invisible Visible" Archived 2019-03-27 at the Wayback Machine yaledailynews.com, December 11, 2015
  5. ^ "Lauren Yee Biography" Archived 2018-01-30 at the Wayback Machine ma-yitheatre.org, retrieved January 30, 2018
  6. ^ Lauren Yee Archived 2016-05-23 at the Wayback Machine AO International, retrieved May 09, 2016
  7. ^ "Lauren Yee, Zachary Zwillinger" Archived 2018-01-30 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times, September 23, 2012
  8. ^ Papatola, Dominic P. "Theater review: ‘The Tiger Among Us’ is a sturdy creature" Archived 2018-01-31 at the Wayback Machine twincities.com, January 27, 2013
  9. ^ Brantley, Ben (2013-09-06). "A Cabinet of Curiosities". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  10. ^ Jones, Chris. "Review: 'Samsara' at Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre" Archived 2018-01-30 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Tribune, February 15, 2015
  11. ^ Hurwitt, Robert. "Lauren Yee finds the drama 'In a Word’" Archived 2018-01-30 at the Wayback Machine sfgate.com, April 7, 2015
  12. ^ Hurwitt, Robert. "Lauren Yee’s slasher satire is razor-sharp" Archived 2018-01-31 at the Wayback Machine sfgate.com, May 11, 2015
  13. ^ Malitz, Nancy. "At Goodman’s New Stages Festival, playwrights count on sharpening assist from the audience" Archived 2018-01-31 at the Wayback Machine chicagoontheaisle.com, November 12, 2015
  14. ^ The Great Leap Archived 2018-01-30 at the Wayback Machine broadwayworld.com, retrieved January 30, 2018
  15. ^ Gray, Margaret. "Joy, heartbreak and psychedelic surf rock power a fierce, funny 'Cambodian Rock Band'" Archived 2019-12-05 at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times, March 16, 2018
  16. ^ The Song of Summer Archived 2019-03-28 at the Wayback Machine broadwayworld.com, retrieved March 27, 2019
  17. ^ "Young Americans". Portland Center Stage. Archived from the original on November 17, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  18. ^ "Young Americans". Pittsburgh Public Theater. Archived from the original on November 17, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  19. ^ "Playwright Lauren Yee has won over $400,000 in literary prizes in 2019". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2019-10-29. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  20. ^ Clement, Olivia. "Jackie Sibblies Drury and Lauren Yee Are Winners of Steinberg Playwright Awards" Archived 2019-12-12 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, October 9, 2019
  21. ^ "Lauren Yee Wins Steinberg ATCA Award for Cambodian Rock Band" Archived 2020-01-24 at the Wayback Machine americantheatrecritics.org, April 6, 2019
  22. ^ Clement, Olivia. "Michael R. Jackson and Lauren Yee Named 2019 Whiting Award Winners" Archived 2020-12-04 at the Wayback Machine playbill, March 26, 2019
  23. ^ Clement, Olivia. "Signature Theatre Welcomes 5 New Residents" Archived 2020-10-30 at the Wayback Machine playbill, March 28, 2019
  24. ^ Libbey, Peter (2018-09-04). "Lauren Yee and Jaclyn Backhaus Win Horton Foote Prize for Plays". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  25. ^ Clement, Olivia. "Aleshea Harris’ 'Is God Is', Lauren Yee’s 'The Great Leap', and More Named Finalists for Susan Smith Blackburn Prize" Archived 2018-01-30 at the Wayback Machine Playbill, January 29, 2018
  26. ^ "Fellowships are awarded to Martyna Majok, Mario Moore, Okwui Okpokwasili, Jacob Shores-Argüello, and Lauren Yee" Archived 2018-03-15 at the Wayback Machine princeton.edu, December 14, 2017
  27. ^ Brueckner, Laura. "Theatre Bay Area Announces Glickman Award Winner Lauren Yee for 'In a Word' at SF Playhouse" Archived 2018-01-31 at the Wayback Machine theatrebayarea.org, February 8, 2016
  28. ^ "Women’s Invitational 2016 Winners" Archived 2018-01-31 at the Wayback Machine ashlandnewplays.org, retrieved January 30, 2018
  29. ^ "Lauren Yee Wins $10000 Francesca Primus Prize for 2016" Archived 2018-01-31 at the Wayback Machine americantheatrecritics.org, March 15, 2017
  30. ^ "Meet Lauren Yee, our 2015 resident playwright" Archived 2018-01-31 at the Wayback Machine chancetheater.com, February 25, 2015
  31. ^ "2013 National Playwrights Conference" Archived 2016-05-12 at the Wayback Machine theoneill.org, retrieved January 30, 2018
  32. ^ "The Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting" Archived 2019-06-10 at the Wayback Machine kennedy-center.org, retrieved January 30, 2018
  33. ^ "Lauren Yee". Playwrights' Center. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-05-09.

External links edit