The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust has revealed the winners of its 2019 Steinberg Playwright Award. “Fairview’s” Jackie Sibblies Drury and “Cambodian Rock Band’s” Lauren Yee will accept their prizes January 13 at the Mimi Awards, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. Each playwright will receive $50,000 and a statuette.
“Their work has made an indelible impact in a remarkably short amount of time,” trustee Jim Steinberg said of Drury and Yee. “We look forward to watching their powerful ideas continue to influence the lives of all who have the privilege of experiencing them onstage.”
Given biennially, the Steinberg Playwright Award recognizes “the artistry and accomplishments of early- and mid-career American dramatists.” Previous honorees include Dominique Morisseau (“The Detroit Project”), Annie Baker (“The Flick”), and Lisa D’Amour (“Detroit”).
This spring, Drury won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for “Fairhaven,” a surreal comedy about a black family organizing their grandmother’s birthday party. She also took home the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for the play. “Marys Seacole,” “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915” and “Social Creatures” are among her other works.
Yee’s next play, “The Song of Summer,” will premiere at Trinity Rep in Providence, RI, in March. She’s also penned “The Great Leap,” “In a Word,” and “Ching Chong Chinaman,” among other titles. Her TV writing includes the upcoming “Pachinko,” an Apple drama about a Korean family, and “Soundtrack,” a Netflix musical. She has been honored with the Kesselring Prize, the Horton Foote Prize, and the Whiting Award.