Lauren Yee

Biography

Lauren Yee is a Chinese-American playwright with origins in San Francisco. She is skilled in writing plays and adapting them to stages all over the country. Her plays include Ching Chong Chinaman (2011), The Hatmaker’s Wife (2014), Samsara (2016), Cambodian Rock Band (2018) and King of the Yees (2018). Many of her works draw on inspiration from her childhood in an Asian-American community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has been developed and produced at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, the Lincoln Center in New York City, Denver Center Theatre Company, Capital Stage in Sacramento and the Mixed Blood Theatre Company in Minneapolis. She earned her B.A. from Yale University and her M.F.A. in Playwriting from University of California, San Diego. She’s received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature award and Steinberg Playwright Award, among many others. Yee received a Signature Theatre Residency and is member of New Dramatists. She also received The Hodder Fellowship at the Princeton University Lewis Center for the Arts. Lauren Yee has also successfully written for various Netflix and Apple TV scripts.

Career Highlight

During the coronavirus pandemic, Lauren Yee was accomplished in making the East Bay Express “2008’s top ten East Bay plays” for the written version of her play Ching Chong Chinaman. It’s impressive how early in her career she was recognized as a top playwright!

The Great Leap

  • Breakdown:
    • 2M Chinese-American, 1 W Chinese-American, 1M Jewish-American
  • Synopsis:
    • In San Francisco in the year 1989, Asian-American teen Manford strives to join the American basketball team that will travel to China for a friendly rivalry game. At first, Saul, coach of the American team, is skeptical of his basketball skill due to his lack of experience and his short stature. Manford continues to work hard and try to convince the coach for a spot, until he is finally successful in getting on the team. Manford eventually travels to China with the team, even though he was not originally supposed to start off in the game. Wen Chang, coach of the Chinese team, notices Manford getting caught up in the crowd of protests in Tiananmen Square. However, Manford is given a lucky chance to join the game, during which he plays so well that he turns around a losing game to a winning one. Though Manford asserts his motive to travel to China is to participate in this game, other information is discovered later on when he meets Wen Chang. Wen Chang reveals he is Manford’s father, and he had not previously known him since his mother had fled China. The play concludes with Wen Chang joining the protests in Tianamen Square.
  • Development/Production History:
    • World Premiere: Denver Center Theatre (Denver), 2018. 
    • Seattle Rep (Seattle), 2018.
    • Atlantic Theatre Company (New York City), 2018.
    • InterAct Theatre (Philadelphia), 2019.
    • Arts Club Theatre Company (Vancouver), 2019.
    • American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco), 2019.
    • Guthrie Theatre (Minneapolis), 2019.
    • Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago), 2019.
    • Pasadena Playhouse/East West Players (Pasadena), 2019.
    • Cygnet Theatre (San Diego), 2020.
    • San Jose Stage Company (San Jose), 2021.
    • Round House Theatre (Washington D.C.), 2021.
    • Portland Center Stage and Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland), 2022.
    • Capital Stage (Sacramento), 2022.
    • Asolo Repertory Theatre (Sarasota), 2022.
    • Hangar Theatre (Ithaca), 2022.
    • Cleveland Play House (Cleveland), 2022.
  • The play is commissioned by the Denver Center in Denver, Colorado and does not appear to be available online.
  • Photos:
This image depicts Manford during his exciting moments playing in the friendship game, during which Wen Chang and Saul are at his sides (The Great Leap, Asolo Repertory Theatre, 2022).
A promotional image for The Great Leap displays the communist Chinese flag atop a basketball, highlighting the game’s political background (The Great Leap, San Jose Stage Company, 2021).
From left to right, Wen Chang, Connie, Manford and Saul pose together in a photo that reveals their dynamics with one another (The Great Leap, Asolo Repertory Theatre, 2019).
Manford stands alone here across from Connie and Saul on a basketball court, as Sauls waves a finger and conveys his blunt thoughts (The Great Leap, Round House Theatre, 2021).
  • Plays
    • Ching Chong Chinaman, 2011
    • The Tiger Among Us, 2013
    • Hookman, 2015
    • in a word, 2015
    • Samsara, 2016
    • The Great Leap, 2018
    • Cambodian Rock Band, 2018
    • King of the Yees, 2018
    • The Song of Summer, 2019

Reflection on Contribution to Anti-Racist Theatre

Lauren Yee has made tremendous contribution to anti-racist theatre as she examines the cultural interactions between the United States and China through the use of her well-crafted characters. Her play takes inspiration from her life experiences to as she explores the challenges in the Asian-American community. While the protests in China during 1989 greatly impacted the lives of the Chinese, many Americans turned a blind eye and did not fully understand the danger of the situation for many, which is reflected in Saul. Saul is a comical character who points out just how little Americans know about foreign nations and their struggles, and also acts as a white savior who claims to ‘save’ China and teach them in many ways. Saul also touches on misconceptions and offensive jokes in order to emphasize just how much more empathetic Americans should be. Wen Chang provides a counterbalance to him in order to demonstrate the difficulties in China at this time, and to provide factual information in ironic juxtaposition to Saul. I think Lauren Yee effectively creates anti-racist theatre by reflecting these character dynamics between the East and West, and showing that these relationships can become stronger if we become more attentive and understanding.

Julia Warden, Business Analytics & Film, Class of 2024