Lauren Yee () is an American playwright and television writer. Her play, Cambodian Rock Band, received the 2018 Horton Foote Prize for Outstanding New American Play.
Early life and education Yee was born and raised in San Francisco, California. While in high school, she discovered a forwarded email about a 10-minute play contest with a Lunar New Year theme and wrote her first play overnight. The experience of hearing actors perform her words inspired her to found Youth for Asian Theater, a company she created with friends to write, direct, act, and put on shows for their community. She graduated from Lowell High School in 2003.
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 and graduated in 2012.Chen, Teresa. "Lauren Yee: Making the Invisible Visible" yaledailynews.com, December 11, 2015
Career Yee is a member of the Ma-Yi Writers' Lab,"Lauren Yee Biography" ma-yitheatre.org, retrieved January 30, 2018 a Playwrights' Center Core Writer, and has worked under commission from the Goodman Theatre, Lincoln Center, and Mixed Blood.Lauren Yee AO International, retrieved May 09, 2016 She has named "Christopher Chen, Julia Cho, Mike Lew, and so, so many others" and "graphic novelists Thi Bui and Gene Luen Yang," among others, as Asian American playwrights and writers she admires.
The Great Leap (2018), Cambodian Rock Band (2018), and Mother Russia (2026) form a cycle of plays that collide 20th-century Asian communism with Western pop culture.
In addition to plays, Yee has written for the Netflix series Mixtape.
Personal life Yee is currently based in New York City. She is married to Zachary Zwillinger, an attorney. The two met at Yale."Lauren Yee, Zachary Zwillinger" The New York Times, September 23, 2012 They have two daughters.
Plays Ching Chong Chinaman (Berkeley Impact Theatre) Crevice (Impact Theatre) The Tiger Among Us (January - February 2013, Mu Performing Arts (Minneapolis) Papatola, Dominic P. "Theater review: 'The Tiger Among Us' is a sturdy creature" twincities.com, January 27, 2013 The Hatmakers Wife (developed at PlayPenn New Play Conference in 2011; August 27, 2013 - September 21, 2013, Off-Broadway The Playwrights Realm) Samsara (February 2015 - March 8, Chicago)Jones, Chris. "Review: 'Samsara' at Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre" Chicago Tribune, February 15, 2015 in a word (April 2015, San Francisco Playhouse)Hurwitt, Robert. "Lauren Yee finds the drama 'In a Word'" sfgate.com, April 7, 2015 Hookman (May 2015, Encore Theatre Company, San Francisco)Hurwitt, Robert. "Lauren Yee's slasher satire is razor-sharp" sfgate.com, May 11, 2015 King of the Yees (2015, The Goodman Theatre's New Stages Festival)Malitz, Nancy. "At Goodman's New Stages Festival, playwrights count on sharpening assist from the audience" chicagoontheaisle.com, November 12, 2015 The Great Leap (2018, Off-Broadway)The Great Leap broadwayworld.com, retrieved January 30, 2018 Cambodian Rock Band (2018, South Coast Repertory)Gray, Margaret. "Joy, heartbreak and psychedelic surf rock power a fierce, funny 'Cambodian Rock Band'" Los Angeles Times, March 16, 2018 The Song of Summer (2019, Trinity Repertory Company)The Song of Summer broadwayworld.com, retrieved March 27, 2019 Young Americans (2023, Portland Center Stage/Pittsburgh Public Theater) A Wrinkle In Time (2025, Arena Stage) Mother Russia (2026, Off-Broadway, Signature Theatre Company)
Awards and honors 2026 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play nomination, Mother Russia 2019 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award Steinberg Playwright Award, with a cash award of $50,000.Clement, Olivia. "Jackie Sibblies Drury and Lauren Yee Are Winners of Steinberg Playwright Awards" Playbill, October 9, 2019 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for Cambodian Rock Band, which includes a $25,000 prize."Lauren Yee Wins Steinberg ATCA Award for Cambodian Rock Band" americantheatrecritics.org, April 6, 2019 Whiting Award in DramaClement, Olivia. "Michael R. Jackson and Lauren Yee Named 2019 Whiting Award Winners" playbill, March 26, 2019 Signature Theatre Company (New York City) Residency 5 program. The program "guarantees playwrights three premieres over five years."Clement, Olivia. "Signature Theatre Welcomes 5 New Residents" playbill, March 28, 2019 2018 Horton Foote Prize for Outstanding New American Play for Cambodian Rock Band. Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist for The Great LeapClement, 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 Princeton University MacKall Gwinn Hodder Fellows for the 2018–2019 academic year."Fellowships are awarded to Martyna Majok, Mario Moore, Okwui Okpokwasili, Jacob Shores-Argüello, and Lauren Yee" princeton.edu, December 14, 2017 2017 Joseph Kesselring Prize for The Great Leap. 2016 Will Glickman Playwright Award winner (for in a word)Brueckner, Laura. "Theatre Bay Area Announces Glickman Award Winner Lauren Yee for 'In a Word' at SF Playhouse" theatrebayarea.org, February 8, 2016 Ashland New Plays Festival – Women's Invitational winner (for King of the Yees)"Women's Invitational 2016 Winners" ashlandnewplays.org, retrieved January 30, 2018 Francesca Primus Prize from the American Theatre Critics Association"Lauren Yee Wins $10000 Francesca Primus Prize for 2016" americantheatrecritics.org, March 15, 2017 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"Meet Lauren Yee, our 2015 resident playwright" chancetheater.com, February 25, 2015 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)"2013 National Playwrights Conference" theoneill.org, retrieved January 30, 2018 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)"The Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting" kennedy-center.org, retrieved January 30, 2018 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)
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