David Yee is a Canadian actor and playwright. His play ''lady in the red dress'' was a shortlisted nominee for the

Governor General's Award for English language drama The Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama was divided. Because the awar ...

at the 2010 Governor General's Awards. His play ''carried away on the crest of a wave'' won this award at the

2015 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2015 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 7, 2015,Siminovitch Prize in Theatre The Siminovitch Prize is Canada's largest theatre award recognizing excellence in mid-career directors, playwrights and designers. $100,000 is awarded annually to recipients. Anyone may nominate a qualified candidate for the Prize, and winners ...

, which recognizes artists whose groundbreaking work is advancing the art form. The Siminovitch jury praised David's unique and prolific voice as well as his advocacy in the Asian Canadian community.

Early life

Yee was born and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. He is of Chinese and Scottish ancestry. He graduated from the

University of Toronto Mississauga The University of Toronto Mississauga (abbreviated as U of T Mississauga or UTM) is the second-largest division of the University of Toronto and one of its three campuses, located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1967, the campus ...

theatre and drama studies program in 2000. Intending to pursue acting he focused instead on play writing.

Career

His play ''lady in the red dress'' was a shortlisted nominee for the

at the 2010 Governor General's Awards. In 2011, his play ''paper Series'' was shortlisted for the 2011

Carol Bolt Award The Carol Bolt Award is an annual Canadian literary award. Presented by the Playwrights Guild of Canada, the award is bestowed for a theatrical play premiere by a PGC member, judged to be the year's best. The award is named in memory of Canadian pl ...

. He won the 2013 Carol Bolt Award for Best Work Premiered by a Playwrights Guild of Canada member for his play ''carried away on the crest of a wave''. The play debuted in 2013 at the

Tarragon Theatre The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country.

; its American premiere was later that year in

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

. In 2015, Yee received a nomination for the

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

for Outstanding New Musical/Opera for ''Tapestry Briefs: Booster Shots'' (Tapestry Opera). His play ''carried away on the crest of a wave'' won the Governor General's Award for English language drama at the

2015 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2015 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 7, 2015,Factory Theatre Factory Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded as Factory Theatre Lab in 1970 by Ken Gass and Frank Trotz, and it was run for almost 20 years by Dian English. Factory theatre was the first to anno ...

in November 2016. Yee is a co-founder and current artistic director of fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company. He is playwright-in-residence at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. His work has been published in the Asian-Canadian drama anthology ''Love & Relasianships'' (edited by Nina Lee Aquino) and the monologue book ''Refractions: Solo'' (edited by Yvette Nolan and Donna-Michelle St. Bernard).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yee, David 1998 births Living people 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male stage actors Canadian people of Chinese descent Canadian people of Scottish descent Male actors from Toronto Writers from Toronto Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Governor General's Award–winning dramatists 21st-century Canadian male writers