In The Heart Sellers, playwright Lloyd Suh blends nutty sweetness and aching loneliness into a balletic whole. Studio Theatre’s production of this 2023 play, perfectly paced by director Danilo Gambini, features two splendid actresses who pirouette flawlessly throughout this one-act drama, fleshing out their characters with heartwarming hilarity and depth.
It’s the 1970s. Luna (Francesca Fernandez) and Jane (Jeena Yi) are the immigrant wives of young doctors from the Philippines and South Korea, respectively. Newly arrived in an unnamed “mid-size” American city, the women navigate their first Thanksgiving in the U.S. while their husbands work on this quintessentially American holiday.
The two women meet in the supermarket, where the extroverted Luna impulsively invites a more reclusive, timid Jane to her studio flat for dinner. Once home, Luna pulls out a plump turkey still frozen to its core.
While the bird slowly cooks, the women uncork a bottle of wine and gradually slough off the delicate skins that have protected them from a new and alien world. At turns silly and serious, they reveal the struggles and absurdities of their new lives. Luna’s husband told her that they could go anywhere she wanted for their honeymoon. When she chose Disneyland, they simply gawked from the parking lot, unable to pay admission to the Magic Kingdom.
Jane spends her days watching TV, from Julia Child and All in the Family to Walter Cronkite. Both dance around Luna’s flat to “Soul Train,” adore Jane Fonda, and cast a critical eye on Richard Nixon. They are learning, through a steady diet of media intoxication, what it means to be an American in the 1970s.
Luna and Jane are also aware of what’s been lost along the way. Their immigration to the U.S. has been enabled by the 1965 Hart-Celler Act, which allowed for increased numbers of Asians and other non-Western European persons to enter America. In a mesmerizing monologue pulled from the depths of her soul, Luna turns Congress’s act of beneficence into a cruel irony. To assimilate, immigrants must give up emotional and physical ties to their countries of origin and adapt to the new. Everything they used to be “crumbles and tumbles” in this new world. You must become a “heart seller” to live in America.
Lloyd Suh’s dialogue is intensely real and natural. His silences pack powerful messages as well. When one and then the other woman excuses herself to use the bathroom, the character left on stage uses the time to further explore and ruminate. Jane’s curiosity (and ours) is hilariously rewarded as she fumbles with a bawdy pop-up toy that tells us something about both women. Her utter astonishment at discovering supermarket cheese that can be sprayed from a can is among the evening’s most entertaining bits of humor.
The entire play takes place in Luna’s modest apartment. Scenic designer Marcelo Martinez García provides a spot-on evocation of the 1970s with its mismatched avocado, orange, and turquoise décor. Two wonderfully homely, crocheted blankets function almost as supporting characters. They shield Luna and Jane, protecting them from a cold and alien world. When they finally share one blanket, we understand just how much their mutual trust has blossomed in a single evening. Costume designer Helen Q. Huang’s carefully curated plaids, pinks, denim, stripes, puffy coats, and polyester at-home ensembles add to the delightfully mismatched look and feel of the production.
Immigration policies have been among America’s thorniest issues for nearly our entire history, now more so than ever. In the debate that rages across our headlines nightly, it is easy to lose focus on the individual stories of immigration. Lloyd Suh’s incisive drama, brought to life by two superb actors under Gambini’s sensitive direction, reminds us of what it means to start all over again, and how important love and friendship are to the painful process of change.
Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
The Heart Sellers plays through October 26, 2025, in the Milton Theatre at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th Street NW, Washington, DC. For tickets ($55–$95, with low-cost options available), go online, call the box office at 202-332-3300, email boxoffice@studiotheatre.org, or visit TodayTix. Studio Theater offers discounts for first responders, military servicepeople, students, young people, educators, senior citizens, and others, as well as rush tickets. For discounts, contact the box office or visit here for more information.
The program for The Heart Sellers is online here.
COVID Safety: All performances are mask-recommended. Studio Theatre’s complete Health and Safety protocols are here.
The Heart Sellers
By Lloyd Suh
Directed by Danilo Gambini
