In 1965, the Hart-Celler Act opened up the U.S. to immigrants from Latin America, Africa, and Asia, abolishing “national origins” quotas that had previously favored European countries. Set eight years later, in 1973, Lloyd Suh’s The Heart Sellers is a two-hander about immigrants Luna (Filipina) and Jane (Korean) celebrating Thanksgiving, finding unexpected friendship as wives of medical residents, and learning to navigate cultural differences.
Debuting in 2023 at Milwaukee Rep, Suh’s play has since become one of the most-produced plays in the country; last season it had 10 productions, and this coming season it will have eight (see our Top 10 Most-Produced Plays list here). Its relevance now—in a time with immigration crackdowns targeting skilled and documented workers and undocumented migrants alike—may partly account for its persistent popularity. As Suh put it, “Doing this play in 2023 or early 2024 is different from doing it after the last election,” with deeper resonances for lines like “America’s in a bad time, too” and discussions of Nixon, martial law, and Ferdinand Marcos. “All world is break,” as Jane puts it.
Suh has a few collaborators to thank for its development: May Adrales and Jennifer Chang have directed multiple productions. Both have brought their own touches to the play, which Suh loves to see: In the 2023 premiere, Chang incorporated a beach chair from her childhood living room. Adrales, who first inspired Suh to write the play, directed it at the Huntington, then the Guthrie. With Chang and Adrales, Suh discussed the phenomenon of “growing up with mothers who you see in public—the way the world can tune them out when they hear their voices.” By contrast, in watching The Heart Sellers, “You see audiences lean in. It’s indescribably moving.”
Chang made a Heart Sellers homecoming earlier this year with a West Coast co-production among TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Aurora Theatre Company, and Capital Stage. “The totality of it—to see it means this much to a much wider audience than I imagined—is so meaningful,” Suh said.
In 2025-26, it’s a season with several immigrants leading Heart Sellers: Danilo Gambini, who came to the U.S. in 2017, directs Studio Theatre’s D.C. premiere in September; Desdemona Chiang, who directed it over the summer at Virginia Theatre Festival, returns to the piece with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in October; and Sunam Ellis will direct it at Seattle Rep next January. Also in October, Jennifer Chang will direct again at South Coast Rep, as will Michelle Chan at Atlanta’s Horizon Theatre Company and Ben Wolfe at Austin Playhouse.
The ever-changing world’s impact on the play across these various places intrigues Suh. What moves him most, he said, is hearing how The Heart Sellers allows artists to “get closer to family in ways they hadn’t before.” He cited rehearsals at which young Asian American actors told him, “I hear my mother in my voice,” and “I feel my mother in my body.” They’re reminders, he said, of “why we do this crazy thing we do: to make our lives better.” He could as easily be talking about immigration as theatre.
Daniella Ignacio, a writer, theatre artist, and musician based in Washington, D.C., is a contributing editor of this magazine.
