Playwright Lloyd Suh is the 2020 recipient of the Horton Foote Prize, honoring works in the American theatre. Suh earned the accolade for his play The Chinese Lady, which follows the true story of Afong Moy, one of America’s first female Chinese immigrants who was subsequently made a carnival attraction. The prize includes a $50,000 reward.
“I’ve worked almost exclusively in small and mid-sized theatres,” the playwright told Variety. “I worry about their sustainability. I hope they will find the nimbleness and flexibility and the resources to withstand this.”
Suh will be honored September 13 in a private virtual ceremony. His additional works include Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery, American Hwangap, and Franklinland.
The Chinese Lady was submitted for consideration for the prize by Ma-Yi Theater, where it ran in fall 2018. The play had its world premiere at Barrington Stage Company earlier that year, and was more recently staged at Milwaukee Repertory Theater in 2019.
