Yay for Yee! Lauren Yee wins the Glickman Award
San Francisco native Lauren Yee has won the 2015 Glickman Award for the best play to have its world premiere in the Bay Area. She won for in a word, a drama about the aftermath of a child gone missing, which was produced as part of the "Sandbox Series" at San Francisco Playhouse. The award comes with a $4,000 check for the playwright and a certificate of recognition to the producing theater.
In an interesting and unusual twist, Yee was in competition for the award with...herself. Yee's Hookman, produced by Encore Theatre Company, was also a finalist, along with Black Virgins Are Not for Hipsters by Echo Brown and produced by The Marsh.
Read an excerpt of in a word here.
The Glickman Award, which will be presented at the Theatre Bay Area conference, is awarded annually by a committee comprising Bay Area critics. This year's committee included Robert Hurwitt of the San Francisco Chronicle, Robert Avila of povertyartsjournal.com, Karen D’Souza of the San Jose Mercury News/Bay Area News Group, Chad Jones of TheaterDogs.net and Sam Hurwitt of the Idiolect and the Marin Independent Journal.
Here’s a complete list of Glickman Award winners (the award is made in the year following the show's premiere):
2015 The House that will not Stand, Marcus Gardley (Berkeley Repertory Theatre)2014 Ideation, Aaron Loeb (San Francisco Playhouse)2013 The Hundred Flowers Project, Christopher Chen (Crowded Fire/Playwrights Foundation)2012 The North Pool, Rajiv Joseph (TheatreWorks)2011 Oedipus el Rey, Luis Alfaro (Magic)2010 In the Next Room, Sarah Ruhl (Berkeley Rep)2009 Beowulf, Jason Craig (Shotgun Players)2008 Tings Dey Happen, Dan Hoyle (Marsh)2007 Hunter Gatherers, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb (Killing My Lobster)2006 The People’s Temple, Leigh Fondakowski et al (Berkeley Rep)2005 Dog Act, Liz Duffy Adams (Shotgun)2004 Soul of a Whore, Denis Johnson (Campo Santo)2003 Five Flights, Adam Bock (Encore)2002 Dominant Looking Males, Brighde Mullins (Thick Description)2001 Everything’s Ducky, Bill Russell & Jeffrey Hatcher (TheatreWorks)2000 The Trail of Her Inner Thigh, Erin Cressida Wilson (Campo Santo)1999 Combat!, John Fisher (Rhino)1998 Civil Sex, Brian Freeman (Marsh)1997 Hurricane/Mauvais Temps, Anne Galjour (Berkeley Rep)1996 Medea, the Musical, John Fisher (Sassy Mouth)1995 Rush Limbaugh in Night School, Charlie Varon (Marsh)1994 Santos & Santos, Octavio Solis (Thick Description)1993 Heroes and Saints, Cherrie Moraga (Brava)1992 Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Tony Kushner (Eureka)1991 Political Wife, Bill Talen (Life on the Water)1990 Pick Up Ax, Anthony Clarvoe (Eureka)1989 Yankee Dawg You Die, Philip Kan Gotanda (Berkeley Rep)1988 Webster Street Blues, Warren Kubota (Asian American)1987 Life of the Party, Doug Holsclaw (Rhino)1986 Deer Rose, Tony Pelligrino (Theatre on the Square)1985 The Couch, Lynne Kaufman (Magic)1984 Private Scenes, Joel Homer (Magic)