Review: THE HEART SELLERS at North Coast Repertory Theatre

“The Heart Sellers’ at North Coast Repertory Theatre is a lovely testament to the hope and loneliness of new beginnings and the power of friendship.  With two engaging and warm performances, this show is an excellent and timely tribute to the immigrants who left behind all they knew to create a better life.

This one-act play is about two young immigrant wives in Nixon-era America, which, only a few years before, in 1973, passed the U.S. Heart-Celler Act that repealed the past quotas that prioritized European immigration over people from other countries.

Luna (Marielle Young), a Filipina, meets Jane (Jin Park), a Korean woman, at the grocery store on Thanksgiving.  As both of their husbands are resident doctors, they are working on the holiday, and the women decide to cook a turkey to celebrate this American holiday. Luna is so excited to have someone over and make a friend living through similar experiences that her enthusiasm manifests as a steady stream of conversation.  Jane, who is not as strong at English as Luna, initially doesn’t say as much, though she has a fun sense of humor and an understanding of how to cook a turkey that Luna doesn’t, and gradually opens up and becomes more talkative.

As the day goes on, their friendship blossoms over wine, cheese, and crackers, and they share the sense that they have left everything they knew behind but are unsure of their place and future in this new land. Both have experienced the isolation of staying home as their husbands work, leaving them to practice English, and finding virtual friendship through Julia Child cooking lessons and episodes of ‘The Price Is Right” and “Soul Train.”

Kat Yen’s direction allows this lovely and gentle friendship to build believably, attuned to each other and similar experiences to build the foundation of this relationship. This allows Lloyd Suh’s writing to translate easily to modern audiences, who navigate similar struggles of friendship, belonging, and how to build a life in an increasingly confusing world.

Their conversations reflect their yearning for adventure beyond their apartments. They dream of running off to the countryside to participate in a festival Luna saw once or chasing their individual dreams, which got packed away like other left-behind items when they packed to move to the US. Jane feels like an observer in her life, choosing this safer route for a more comfortable life in a strange land, likening it to “one more soccer game I watch somebody else play.” 

Luna worries that she now exists in a sort of purgatory, where she is changed by moving to America and no longer relates to her family back home as she used to, and worries that “I will struggle to love my babies the way my mother loved me because they won’t understand me the way I understand her” as her children will be a generation removed from their mother’s country and traditions. 

Young and Park have fantastic and believable chemistry and excellent character balance.  Where Young is exuberant, and conversation asides seem to explode out of her in her enthusiasm, Park is quietly expressive, taking everything in through wide-eyed observation before opening up.

The scenic design by Marty Burnett creates an apartment of harvest golds, daisy-patterned tablecloths, and a wonderful sense of the depth of the other buildings just beyond these windows.  Matt Novotny’s lighting is warm and atmospheric, with a sound design by Daniela Hart Uptownworks and a cute period costume design by Grace Wong.

“The Heart Sellers” is a character study of these two women, a meditation on the invisible costs of immigration, and a reminder of the power of friendship that can create a found family to make a new place for yourself in the world.

How To Get Tickets

“The Heart Sellers” plays at North Coast Repertory Theatre through February 2nd.  For ticket and showtime information, go to www.northcoastrep.org  

Photo Credit: Aaron Rumley 

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