Young Jean Lee
Encyclopedia
Young Jean Lee is a Brooklyn
-based playwright and director working in experimental theater. She is the artistic director of Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, a not-for-profit theater company dedicated to producing her work. Lee was called "one of the best experimental playwrights in America" by David Cote in Time Out New York.
and attended college at UC Berkeley, where she majored in English. Immediately after college, Lee entered UC Berkeley’s English PhD program, where she studied Shakespeare for six years. In 2002, she moved to New York to become a playwright. She received an MFA from Mac Wellman's
playwriting program at Brooklyn College
.
at Soho Repertory Theater (Lear, The Appeal), The Kitchen
(The Shipment), The Public Theater (Church), P.S. 122 (Church, Pullman, WA), HERE Arts Center
(Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven), and the Ontological-Hysteric Theater
(Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals). Her work has toured venues in Paris, Vienna, Hannover, Berlin, Zurich, Brussels, Budapest, Sydney, Bergen, Oslo, Trondheim, Rotterdam, Salamanca, Toulouse, Chicago, Chapel Hill, Portland, Seattle, Philadelphia, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Boston, Williamstown, and Minneapolis. Lee is currently under commission from Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons
, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
.
. She is a member of New Dramatists and 13P, and has been awarded residencies from Yaddo
, the MacDowell Colony
, the Ucross Foundation
, and Hedgebrook
.
for The Shipment, and a recipient of the 2009 Brooklyn College Young Alumni Award, the ZKB Patronage Prize 2007 of the Zürcher Theater Spektakel
, the 2007 Emerging Playwright OBIE Award
, and a 2010 Prize in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
She is a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
-based playwright and director working in experimental theater. She is the artistic director of Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, a not-for-profit theater company dedicated to producing her work. Lee was called "one of the best experimental playwrights in America" by David Cote in Time Out New York.
Background
Lee was born in South Korea in 1974 and moved to the United States when she was two years old. She grew up in Pullman, WashingtonPullman, Washington
Pullman is the largest city in Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 24,675 at the 2000 census and 29,799 according to the 2010 census...
and attended college at UC Berkeley, where she majored in English. Immediately after college, Lee entered UC Berkeley’s English PhD program, where she studied Shakespeare for six years. In 2002, she moved to New York to become a playwright. She received an MFA from Mac Wellman's
Mac Wellman
Mac Wellman is an American playwright, author, and poet. Wellman is best known for his experimental work in the theater which rebels against theatrical conventions, often abandoning such traditional elements as plot and character altogether...
playwriting program at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
.
Works
Lee's plays have premiered in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at Soho Repertory Theater (Lear, The Appeal), The Kitchen
The Kitchen
The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary art and performance space located at at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
(The Shipment), The Public Theater (Church), P.S. 122 (Church, Pullman, WA), HERE Arts Center
HERE Arts Center
HERE Arts Center is a New York City based off-off broadway presenting house, founded in 1993, with two stages specializing in hybrid performance, dance, theater, multi-media and puppetry. From 1993-2009, HERE supported over 12,000 artists and served approximately 950,000 audience members...
(Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven), and the Ontological-Hysteric Theater
Ontological-Hysteric Theater
The Ontological-Hysteric Theater was founded in 1968 by Richard Foreman. According to his website, his aim was-Total Theater:According to his website,-Production history:...
(Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals). Her work has toured venues in Paris, Vienna, Hannover, Berlin, Zurich, Brussels, Budapest, Sydney, Bergen, Oslo, Trondheim, Rotterdam, Salamanca, Toulouse, Chicago, Chapel Hill, Portland, Seattle, Philadelphia, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Boston, Williamstown, and Minneapolis. Lee is currently under commission from Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States. The festival annually produces eleven plays on three stages during a season that lasts from February to October...
.
Affiliations
Outside her own company, Lee has worked with Radiohole and the National Theater of the United States of AmericaNational Theater of the United States of America
National Theater of the United States of America is a theater company in New York City. The theater has no connection with the American government, the name is intended to be humorous....
. She is a member of New Dramatists and 13P, and has been awarded residencies from Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
, the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, the Ucross Foundation
Ucross Foundation
The Ucross Foundation, located in Ucross, Wyoming, is a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers and choreographers working in all creative disciplines.-History:...
, and Hedgebrook
Hedgebrook
Hedgebrook is a rural retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island, Washington, founded in 1988. Hedgebrook's artist in residency program accepts 40 writers each year, who spend 2 to 6 weeks in residence working on their diverse writing projects. Each writer stays in her own hand-crafted cottage....
.
Publications
Lee's plays have been published in New Downtown Now, an anthology edited with Mac Wellman, Three Plays by Young Jean Lee, American Theatre magazine, Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven and Other Plays, and The Shipment and Lear.Awards
Lee was a finalist for the 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn PrizeSusan Smith Blackburn Prize
The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is for English-language women playwrights. Named for Susan Smith, alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer.-Winners:* 1978-79 Mary O'Malley* 1979-80 Barbara Schneider...
for The Shipment, and a recipient of the 2009 Brooklyn College Young Alumni Award, the ZKB Patronage Prize 2007 of the Zürcher Theater Spektakel
Zürcher Theater Spektakel
The Zürcher Theater Spektakel is an international theatre and performing arts festival, held annually each summer in Zürich, Switzerland. First held in 1980,...
, the 2007 Emerging Playwright OBIE Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
, and a 2010 Prize in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
She is a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow.