Lauren Yee Explained

Lauren Yee
Occupation:	Playwright
Education:	Yale University (BA) University of California, San Diego (MFA)
Spouse:	Zachery Zwillinger

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

Early life and education

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

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

Personal life

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

Plays

• Ching Chong Chinaman (Berkeley Impact Theatre)
• Crevice (Impact Theatre)
• The Tiger Among Us (January - February 2013, Mu Performing Arts (Minneapolis) ^[8]
• The Hatmakers Wife (developed at PlayPenn New Play Conference in 2011; August 27, 2013 - September 21, 2013, Off-Broadway The Playwrights Realm)^[9]
• Samsara (February 2015 - March 8, Chicago)^[10]
• in a word (April 2015, San Francisco Playhouse)^[11]
• Hookman (May 2015, Encore Theatre Company, San Francisco)^[12]
• King of the Yees (2015, The Goodman Theatre's New Stages Festival)^[13]
• The Great Leap (2018, Off-Broadway)^[14]
• Cambodian Rock Band (2018, South Coast Repertory)^[15]
• The Song of Summer (2019, Trinity Repertory Company)^[16]
• Young Americans (2023, Portland Center Stage/Pittsburgh Public Theater)^{[17] [18]}

Awards and honors

The awards/honors are in reverse chronological order.

2019

• Doris Duke Performing Artist Award^[19]
• Steinberg Playwright Award, with a cash award of $50,000.^[20]
• Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for Cambodian Rock Band, which includes a $25,000 prize.^[21]
• Whiting Award in Drama^[22]
• Signature Theatre Company (New York City) Residency 5 program. The program "guarantees playwrights three premieres over five years."^[23]

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

• Joseph Kesselring Prize for The Great Leap.^[3]

2016

• Will Glickman Playwright Award winner (for in a word)^[27]
• Ashland New Play Festival – Women's Invitational winner (for King of the Yees)^[28]
• Francesca Primus Prize from the American Theatre Critics Association^[29]

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]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 博客來-回望彼岸：亞美劇場研究在台灣. Books.com.tw. April 15, 2022. zh-tw. April 15, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220415153119/https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010845987. live.
2. Web site: "2019年度全美十大华人杰出青年"榜单公布. All America Chinese Youth Federation. Richard. Ren. May 4, 2019. April 15, 2022. zh-hans. April 15, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220415153151/https://www.aacyf.org/?p=11305. live.
3. Web site: Lowell Alumna, First Chinese-American playwright to win Kesselring Prize. Xie. Jocelyn. The Lowell. 2019-10-30. 2020-09-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20200919192303/http://thelowell.org/437/news/lowell-alumna-first-chinese-american-playwright-to-win-kesselring-prize/. live.
4. Chen, Teresa. "Lauren Yee: Making the Invisible Visible" yaledailynews.com, December 11, 2015
5. http://ma-yitheatre.org/labbies/lauren-yee/ "Lauren Yee Biography"
6. http://www.aoiagency.com/lauren-yee/ Lauren Yee
7. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/fashion/weddings/lauren-yee-zachary-zwillinger-weddings.html "Lauren Yee, Zachary Zwillinger"
8. Papatola, Dominic P. "Theater review: ‘The Tiger Among Us’ is a sturdy creature" twincities.com, January 27, 2013
9. News: Brantley . Ben . 2013-09-06 . A Cabinet of Curiosities . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-23 . 0362-4331.
10. Jones, Chris. "Review: 'Samsara' at Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre" Chicago Tribune, February 15, 2015
11. Hurwitt, Robert. "Lauren Yee finds the drama 'In a Word’" sfgate.com, April 7, 2015
12. Hurwitt, Robert. "Lauren Yee’s slasher satire is razor-sharp" sfgate.com, May 11, 2015
13. Malitz, Nancy. "At Goodman’s New Stages Festival, playwrights count on sharpening assist from the audience" chicagoontheaisle.com, November 12, 2015
14. https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/backstage.php?showid=332072#content The Great Leap
15. Gray, Margaret. "Joy, heartbreak and psychedelic surf rock power a fierce, funny 'Cambodian Rock Band'" Los Angeles Times, March 16, 2018
16. https://www.broadwayworld.com/rhode-island/article/Trinity-Rep-Announces-World-Premiere-of-Lauren-Yees-THE-SONG-OF-SUMMER-20190213#content The Song of Summer
17. Web site: Young Americans . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221117005651/https://www.pcs.org/young-americans . November 17, 2022 . November 16, 2022 . Portland Center Stage.
18. Web site: Young Americans . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221117005725/https://ppt.org/production/78803/young-americans . November 17, 2022 . November 16, 2022 . Pittsburgh Public Theater.
19. Web site: Playwright Lauren Yee has won over $400,000 in literary prizes in 2019. Star Tribune. 2019-10-30. 2019-10-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20191029141524/http://www.startribune.com/playwright-lauren-yee-has-won-over-400-000-in-literary-prizes-in-2019/563994602/. live.
20. Clement, Olivia. "Jackie Sibblies Drury and Lauren Yee Are Winners of Steinberg Playwright Awards" Playbill, October 9, 2019
21. http://americantheatrecritics.org/homepublic/2019/4/6/lauren-yee-wins-steinbergatca-award-for-cambodian-rock-band.html "Lauren Yee Wins Steinberg ATCA Award for Cambodian Rock Band"
22. Clement, Olivia. "Michael R. Jackson and Lauren Yee Named 2019 Whiting Award Winners" playbill, March 26, 2019
23. Clement, Olivia. "Signature Theatre Welcomes 5 New Residents" playbill, March 28, 2019
24. News: Lauren Yee and Jaclyn Backhaus Win Horton Foote Prize for Plays. Libbey. Peter. 2018-09-04. The New York Times. 2019-11-01. en-US. 0362-4331. 2019-11-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20191101001227/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/theater/lauren-yee-jaclyn-backhaus-horton-foote-prize.html. live.
25. Clement, Olivia. "Aleshea Harris’ 'Is God Is', Lauren Yee’s 'The Great Leap', and More Named Finalists for Susan Smith Blackburn Prize" Playbill, January 29, 2018
26. http://arts.princeton.edu/news/2017/12/lewis-center-arts-princeton-announces-five-hodder-fellows-2018-2019/ "Fellowships are awarded to Martyna Majok, Mario Moore, Okwui Okpokwasili, Jacob Shores-Argüello, and Lauren Yee"
27. Brueckner, Laura. "Theatre Bay Area Announces Glickman Award Winner Lauren Yee for 'In a Word' at SF Playhouse" theatrebayarea.org, February 8, 2016
28. https://www.ashlandnewplays.org/womens-invitational-2016-winners/ "Women’s Invitational 2016 Winners"
29. http://americantheatrecritics.org/articles/2017/3/15/playwright-lauren-yee-wins-10000-francesca-primus-prize-for.html "Lauren Yee Wins $10000 Francesca Primus Prize for 2016"
30. https://chancetheater.com/meet-lauren-yee-our-2015-resident-playwright/ "Meet Lauren Yee, our 2015 resident playwright"
31. http://www.theoneill.org/summer-conferences/npc/2013-conference/ "2013 National Playwrights Conference"
32. http://web.kennedy-center.org/Education/KCACTF/awards/Playwriting/PaulaVogel "The Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting"
33. Web site: Lauren Yee. Playwrights' Center. 2016-05-09. 2016-06-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20160602215412/https://pwcenter.org/profile/lauren-yee. live.