Luna is an outgoing immigrant from the Philippines. The more cautious Jane has recently arrived from South Korea. They meet in a grocery store on Thanksgiving Day, 1973. Alone in a country they don’t know, they join forces to celebrate Thanksgiving together. Longing for connection, Luna invites Jane to her apartment. While their medical-resident husbands work through the night, the women bond over life in America, the families they left behind and how to cook a frozen turkey. They discuss Soul Train and Jane Fonda, chart the shape of their homesickness, and consider the cost of pursuing an American dream.
Set eight years after the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 overhauled the U.S. immigration system, “The Heart Sellers” is a poignant comedy that illuminates the Asian immigrant experience and asks, “Would you give up your heart to make a new home?”
“The Heart Sellers” had its world premiere at the Milwaukee Rep in 2023 and was heralded as “a stunning comedy” by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and “a love letter to friendship” by BroadwayWorld. The play is getting its South Coast Repertory debut through November 16 on the Julianne Argyros stage.
Playwright Lloyd Suh wrote “The Heart Sellers” during the pandemic and has said that while history and politics gave the play its name, at its heart, it is a comedy about friendship and connection.
“I think at the foreground of everything here is that these are two people who want to make a friend. They want to entertain each other, they want to make each other feel safe, they want to make each other have a good time so they can make a real honest connection,” he said. “And so, all the comedy comes from intention … wanting to make the other person laugh, wanting to feel what it feels like to laugh when you’ve been sitting in an apartment all alone for four months. That’s why I think it’s primarily and principally and chiefly very much a comedy.”
Suh is correct. The audience at the Sunday matinee on opening weekend certainly appreciated the humorous moments, of which there are many. Much of the fun comes from watching Luna trying to put Jane at ease as they slowly bond while imbibing wine. Turns out their lives are not so unsimilar—they are both lonely while their husbands are at work and lonesome for their home countries.
The play unfolds at a steady pace. Luna (Nicole Javier) is an animated talker eager to bring Jane (Narea Kang) out of her protective shell. As they become friends, they open up (with the assistance of cheap wine) and tell their secrets to each other—including an obsession for American television, especially Soul Train, which gets them dancing to music on a small radio.
The charm of the play is watching the women reveal themselves to each other, which of course gets funnier they more they drink. There are several serious moments, including a scene where the meaning of the play’s title is revealed.
“The Heart Sellers” is a comedy that will also leave you thinking as you leave the theater. For tickets, visit www.SCR.org.
