About The Gassner Award

The John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award Competition fosters new playwrights and scripts through this important competition established by Molly Gassner, wife of theatre historian John Gassner. The Award was created in 1967 to honor the late John Gassner (1903-1967) for his lifetime dedication to all aspects of professional and academic theatre.

Two cash prizes will be awarded: First Prize of $1000, and Second Prize of $500. The judges may withhold prizes if in their opinion no play merits the award. Only full-length scripits are accepted.

Download the application form.

2011 Gassner Award Winner

Lauren Yee for her play In A Word

Two years have passed since Fiona’s seven-year-old son mysteriously vanished. As Fiona goes back over the events she remembers leading up to that fateful day, logic buckles and language breaks. Will she uncover the truth and what happens if she does? A lyrical, absurdist journey on how to get over, get around, get through what haunts you.

Lauren Yee has been a MacDowell Colony fellow, a Dramatists Guild fellow, and a Public Theater Emerging Writers Group member. She was a finalist for the Heideman, the Jerome, the PEN USA Literary Award, the PONY Fellowship, the Princess Grace, and the Wasserstein Prize. Current commissions: AlterTheater, the Kennedy Center, and Mu Performing Arts (supported by the MAP Fund). Samuel French just published her play Ching Chong Chinaman. BA: Yale. MFA: UCSD (2012).

You can learn more about Luaren Yee by visiting her website at LaurenYee.com.

Related References for Lauren Yee

• “Berkeley: Aurora Theatre Company announces new works winners” in StarkInsider.com, Nov, 2011.