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Lauren D Yee

LAUREN D YEE

  
Nationality:    USA
twitter     email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    Antje Oegel International  represented by Antje Oegel

Lauren Yee's work explores the line between humor and heartbreak to create wildly theatrical work. Her plays include CHING CHONG CHINAMAN (Pan Asian, Mu Performing Arts, SIS Productions, Impact Theatre), CREVICE (Impact Theatre), THE HATMAKER's WIFE (Playwrights Realm, The Hub, Moxie Theatre, AlterTheater, PlayPenn), HOOKMAN (Encore Theatre, Company One), IN A WORD (SF Playhouse, Cleveland Public Theatre, Hangar and Williamstown workshops), KING OF THE YEES (Goodman Theatre commission), SAMSARA (Victory Gardens, O'Neill Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival), and THE TIGER AMONG US (MAP Fund, Mu Performing Arts). Her work has been developed at Lincoln Center/LCT3, the Goodman Theatre, The Public Theatre, Second Stage, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Center Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Kitchen Dog, the Magic Theatre, and others. Former Dramatists Guild fellow, MacDowell Colony fellow, Public Theater Emerging Writers Group member, Women's Project Lab playwright, Second Stage Shank playwright-in-residence, and Playwrights Realm Page One resident playwright. Her play SAMSARA has been a nominee for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the L. Arnold Weissberger Award. Her play THE HATMAKER's WIFE was an Outer Critics Circle nominee for the John Gassner Award for best play by a new American playwright. She is currently a member of the Ma-Yi Writers' Lab and a Playwrights' Center Core Writer. Lauren is under commission from the Goodman Theatre, Lincoln Center/LCT3, South Coast Rep, Mixed Blood, and Encore Theatre. BA: Yale. MFA: UCSD.

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below is a list of Lauren D Yee's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Altered States of Marriage         Cambodian Rock Band         CAUTION: the True Imagined Story of My Parents' Romance         Ching Chong Chinaman         Crevice         Danielle Steel Writes Children's Novels         Escaping China Town         Hatmaker's Wife, The         Highrise         Hookman         in a word         In the Beginning Again         J.A.P.         Joey Buttafuoco Eats a Pastrami Sandwich         King Of The Yees         Lives of the Formerly French         Lost Girl (or First Chair), The         Love Cycle, The         Man His Wife and His Hat, A         Our Peculiar Institution         Over the Aisan Airways         Remembering the Zodiac         Samsara         Tiger Among Us, The         Zachary Zwillinger Eats People
Altered States of Marriage

Synopsis:
Mrs Lim has arranged the marriage of her daughter to the son of a long forgotten family friend

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2003

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy 30 min One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cambodian Rock Band

Synopsis:
Part comedy, part mystery, part rock concert, this thrilling story toggles back and forth in time, as father and daughter face the music of the past. Neary, a young Cambodian American, has found evidence that could finally put away individuals who carried out the Cambodian genocide. But her work is far from done. When Dad shows up unannounced-his first return to Cambodia since fleeing 30 years ago-it's clear this isn't just a pleasure trip. A wild rock-and-roll journey through the eyes of father and daughter

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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CAUTION: the True Imagined Story of My Parents' Romance

Synopsis:
What are the forces that bring people together, pull them apart, and return them to one another? Lauren explores the caution that paralyzed and united her own parents. the absolutely 100% true imagined story of how her parents first met, then met again and fell in love four years later.
nytheatre.com

Notes:
2007 Impact Winter One Act Festival

1st Produced:
Impact Theater, NY     2007

Organisations:
Impact Theatre

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy 20 min One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ching Chong Chinaman

Ching Chong Chinaman
A privileged life. A stable home. Indentured servitude in the name of galactic conquest. Upton Wong has it all. But when his Chinese slave starts romancing his mother, will the Wongs ever learn how to be Asian American?

Notes:
Winner of Kumu Kahua theatre's 2007 Pacific Rim Prize And the 2007 Yale Playwrights Festival.

1st Produced:
Csv Cultural And Educational Center - Flamboyan, New York International Fringe Festival     2007

Organisations:
Bathwater Productions

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
1h 30m Comedy Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Crevice

Synopsis:
In Crevice, Liz and Rob, siblings in their late 20s, are stuck. Liz, an overachiever, was recently jilted; Rob, technically an actor, has little motivation; both are back at home, more or less glued to the couch. Kathleen, their mother, has recently taken up with her real estate agent, who's helping her sell her the family home. And while the earth moves under Kathleen's bed, another geological event is happening in the living room: a huge crevice opens up beneath the couch. Lauren Yee takes the audience on hilarious and unexpected twists and turns with a healthy dose of magical realism.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Danielle Steel Writes Children's Novels

Synopsis:
What would happen if the legendary romance author adopted a twelve-year-old Filipino orphan boy and dabbled in children's books?
nytheatre.com

Notes:
Looking Glass theatre presents its Annual festival of workshop productions of plays featuring new writers And directors

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy 15 min One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Escaping China Town

Synopsis:
1963 Chinatown, San Francisco and when their daughter returns from Berkley the parents have some adjusting to do.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
San Francisco     2005

Organisations:
Three Wise Monkeys

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy Drama 20 min One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hatmaker's Wife, The

Hatmaker's Wife, The
In Lauren Yee's whimsical and poignant new play The Hatmaker's Wife, a young woman moves in with her boyfriend expecting domestic bliss, but instead has trouble getting comfortable. Her strange new home seems determined to help out - and soon the walls are talking. They reveal the magical tale of an old hat-maker and his long-suffering wife, who runs away with his favorite hat. This sweet and surreal story bends time and space to redefine the idea of family, home, and true love itself.

Notes:
aka Man His Wife and His Hat, A

1st Produced:
The Playwright's Realm     27 Aug 2013

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy 90 min

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Highrise

Synopsis:
Brothers Jeremy and Ethan have been fending for themselves all their lives. When Ethan visits his brother for an investment banking job interview, the bond of brotherhood is truly tested as a life of sibling rivalry and the promise of status and wealth threaten to come between the ambitious young men.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
90 min Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hookman

Hookman
Freshman year at college is hard when your roommate is weird, you're feeling homesick, and a hook-handed serial killer is slashing girls' throats. But if Lexi can discover what really happened to her high school best friend on that car ride to the movies, everything will be okay. In this existential slasher comedy, Lexi and her friends learn what it means to grow up  and it's not pretty.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Encore Theatre/Z Space, San francisco, CA     09 May 2015

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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in a word

Synopsis:
For Fiona, today is the two-year anniversary of her young son's disappearance. And still, nothing makes sense. Not her blase husband, the incompetent detective, or the neighborhood kidnapper who keeps introducing himself in the checkout line. But when her son's case is on the brink of being declared cold, Fiona delves back into her memories of that fateful day, to uncover that crucial missing piece. in a word chronicles Fiona's attempts to make sense of the past, as grief and comedy collide, and ordinary turns of phrase take on dangerous new meanings.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Cleveland Public Theatre     2015

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel french NY   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
dark comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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In the Beginning Again

Synopsis:
Why do we constantly search for meaning beyond what is given to us? And how do you get to heaven if you never fall in the first place?
nytheatre.com

Notes:
2007 Impact Winter One Act Festival

1st Produced:
Impact Theater, NY     2007

Organisations:
Commissioned by Atlanta's Horizon Theatre

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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J.A.P.

Synopsis:
Adopted, Chinese, Jewish and 13. . . Oy and aiya.

Notes:
part of the Source festival

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Joey Buttafuoco Eats a Pastrami Sandwich

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Berkeley, Ca     2006

Organisations:
Berkeley Rep School of Theatre

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama 50 min One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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King Of The Yees

Synopsis:
Take any Chinese last name, and there exists a corresponding family association with branches in each major American city, Chinese American men's clubs formed over a hundred years ago. For nearly twenty years, playwright Lauren Yee's father Larry has been a driving force in the Yee Family Association. Until now. Amid a backdrop of crumbling Chinatowns and all-too-lifelike museums, Lauren races through history, space, and the fourth wall to find her father in this joyride through San Francisco's disappearing past.

Notes:
Nominated for The Kilroys 2015. The Kilroys is a group of playwrights and producers in LA who publish an annual industry survey of excellent new plays by female and trans playwrights. It is a tool for producers committed to ending the systemic underrepresentation of female and trans playwrights in the American theater.

1st Produced:
Workshop, Playwrights Realm     2014

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adventure, biography, comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Lives of the Formerly French

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Santa Cruz, Ca     2003

Organisations:
Santa Cruz Actors' Theatre

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Lost Girl (or First Chair), The

Lost Girl (or First Chair), The
-

Notes:
part of Keen Teens 2015, a unique and free educational theatre program, run by the Drama Desk and Obie award-winning Keen Company. Keen Teens seeks to improve the quality of plays written for high school students by commissioning scripts from highly regarded playwrights, and gives students the opportunity to work with professional artists in an Off Broadway setting.

1st Produced:
Keen Teens Festival of New Work, NY     2015

Organisations:
Keen Company

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
TYA short play

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  5            Other:  1

Further Reference:
-

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Love Cycle, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Los Angeles     2004

Organisations:
the Blank Theatre Company

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Man His Wife and His Hat, A

Synopsis:
Lauren Yee's time-bending A Man His Wife and His Hat seems a natural choice for Hub, which has become the place to see offbeat plays that touch the heart. Hetchman loves his hat. Oh, and his wife, too. But when both go missing, the retired hatmaker vows to stop at nothing to find them. That is, if he can muster the strength and energy to leave the comfort of his armchair. But a fantastical series of events threatens to derail his endeavor. there's also a golem - a curious beast made of muck - and a talking wall. This is a klezmer-inspired love triangle between a man, his wife. . .and his hat.

Notes:
aka Hatmaker's Wife, The

1st Produced:
University Of California, Forum Theatre, San Diego's Baldwin New Play Festival     13 Apr 2011

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Our Peculiar Institution

Synopsis:
Through the lens of minstrelsy, the institution of slavery and concepts of ownership are tilted into comic relief in this style play in which a newly married man returns the family's long-abandoned ancestral plantation, ready to start a new life. What they encounter there threatens the nascent marriage, and the very ground he treads.
- http://www.aatrevue.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Bay Area Playwrights     2009

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Over the Aisan Airways

Synopsis:
In the heyday of old-time radio, a young, idealistic Asian-American woman and her motley crew prepares for the biggest broadcast of their lives. A fast-paced 1940s farce.

Notes:
California Young Playwrights Festival 2004 winner

1st Produced:
San Diego     2005

Organisations:
Playwrights Project

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy 45 min One Act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Remembering the Zodiac

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Asian American theater Company's Lunar New Year Play Contest winner

1st Produced:
San Francisco     2001

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Samsara

Samsara
When American couple Katie and Craig vow to make a last-ditch effort to create a baby of their own, their quest leads them to India, where a thriving commercial surrogacy industry offers them one final chance at parenthood. But will their decision to "rent out" a surrogate unite or divide them? A hilarious, unsettling look at reproduction in the 21st century, Samsara questions whether we can truly achieve intimacy in the face of shrinking worlds and expanding boundaries.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tiger Among Us, The

Synopsis:
For Lia and her ghetto wannabe brother Pao, being the only Hmong kids in town is tough; it's even tougher when that town happens to be in outstate Minnesota. And when a stranger's arrival in the midst of hunting season threatens their tenuous existence, Lia finds herself caught between her family and her dreams in this modern-day midwestern folktale about a Hmong American family and the tenuous bonds that tie us together.

Notes:
Nominated for The Kilroys 2015. The Kilroys is a group of playwrights and producers in LA who publish an annual industry survey of excellent new plays by female and trans playwrights. It is a tool for producers committed to ending the systemic underrepresentation of female and trans playwrights in the American theater.

1st Produced:
Mu Performing Arts     2013

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
drama, mystery/thriller

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Zachary Zwillinger Eats People

Zachary Zwillinger Eats People
Love kills. Love consumes. these two statements are entirely true for poor Zach, who finds himself unable to control his simultaneous desires to love and to eat his numerous girlfriends. What leads him to such ends and will he ever be able to curb his desires?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
San Francisco     2007

Organisations:
Bindlestiff Studio

1st Published:
in 2008: the Best Ten-Minute Plays 3 or More Actors, Smith & Kraus, (2009)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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