Lauren Yee’s adding another highlight to her 2017 reel. Earlier this year the playwright debuted “In a Word” Off Broadway to rave reviews, and now she’s been named as the winner of the National Arts Club’s 2017 Kesselring Prize. The honor, given in recognition of an emerging playwright, includes $25,000 and a two-week residency at the club, The New York Times reports.
“In a Word” follows the aftermath of a child’s disappearance. Yee’s other credits include “Ching Chong Chinaman,” a portrait of a Chinese-American immigrant family, and comedy “The Hatmaker’s Wife.” Up next for the playwright is “The Great Leap,” which, according to the source, “follows an American basketball team traveling to Beijing in the 1980s, and will come to the Atlantic Theater Company in May.” The play made the 2017 Kilroys List, as did Yee’s “Cambodian Rock Band,” a daughter-father story. The list recognizes new works by female playwrights. All of the 37 plays selected this year were written by non-white, female-identifying scribes.
“I was someone who always wanted to be a writer,” Yee has said. “It was not until high school that I stumbled into playwriting. I love dialogue. I love how language hits the ear. And I think it was this love of hearing words out loud that pushed me into theater in particular.”
The Kesselring Prize will be presented to Yee at the National Arts Club on November 5.
