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When the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was signed into law by then-president Lyndon B. Johnson, the fortunes of skilled Asians aspiring to come to the United States changed overnight. Erstwhile barriers, that were disproportionately porous for Europeans, were finally lifted and thousands of Asians journeyed to the land of opportunity.
But as anyone who has left their home in search of a better one can affirm, the real journey begins after the plane lands. In “The Heart Sellers,” playwright Lloyd Suh lays bare the emotional turbulence of the immigrant experience. The title is a pun on the last names of the men who sponsored this monumental act — Senator Philip A. Hart and Representative Emanuel Celler — which is commonly known as the Hart-Celler Act. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley stages the play in its Northern California premiere.
Set in the Nixon era, the play unfolds over a single evening, as Luna (Nicole Javier) and Jane (Narea Kang) go from being strangers to friends. Having moved to the U.S. from the Philippines and South Korea, respectively, to join their husbands, who’re medical students, they find common ground in their quest to belong. As they struggle to cook Thanksgiving dinner, the turkey in the oven becomes a powerful allegory for their shared desire to assimilate, bringing the writer’s masterful use of symbolism in the spotlight.
Also noteworthy is the sensitivity in Suh’s writing. Just moments into the play, the words “back home” appear, forging an instant bond with anyone who has ever moved. A lot of the dialogue is written in broken English, accurately portraying the language gap many Asian immigrants face. The writer balances emotion with humor, providing well-timed comic relief throughout the play.
The sense of time and place comes through clearly through the costumes, set design and references to the food, politics and pop culture of the ’70s, most of which are met with gasps of recognition from older audience members. Examples include Ritz crackers, cans of squeezy cheddar cheese, Yellow Pages, TV shows like “Soul Train,” “Sesame Street” and “The Young and the Restless” and Kmart, the department store where Luna and Jane meet. One also never forgets the play is set in a time over five decades ago, because the characters, though ambitious, are bound by not just their station in life but also by their gender.
Other aspects of the play that immigrants and first-generation Americans are likely to relate to include the discussion around adjusting to everyday ‘Americanisms,’ like small talk and social niceties — to someone unfamiliar with the language and colloquialisms here, the assumed permanence of a phrase like “Can I take your coat?” can induce anxiety, as it does in Jane — the practice of shortening or ‘Americanizing’ one’s name, learning how to drive here as an adult, and overcoming feelings of homesickness, diffidence and loneliness on arriving here which tend to be at odds with the passionate desire to live the American dream.
At one point, the words “people like us” are uttered, while talking about the fact that they look and sound different from the general population which, at the time, was mostly white. This play premiered at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in 2023, but its timeliness and relevance today, given the socio-political discourse all around, is immense. One can hardly read or say the word immigrant today without pausing to think about its myriad implications. In recreating the Asian American immigrant experience of 1973 on stage, the play does a service to every kind of immigrant, from anywhere, across time.
Jennifer Chang’s direction is smooth and the actors’ dialogue delivery, effortless. In a brief segment towards the end of the play, Javier sings a few lines in her character’s native tongue, an unexpected, melodious treat. One of the most believable elements is Luna and Jane’s transition from being sober to being intoxicated as they guzzle cheap wine over the course of the evening.
In fact, it is through this drunken haze that the two women discuss different renditions of the term “Hart-Celler,” which, they’re amused to discover, sounds like “heart seller.” The most moving version is an allusion to a kind of contemporary Faustian Bargain, with the immigrant as someone who sells his or her heart in the process of entering the United States, making the uniformed immigration officer the proverbial devil.
At the heart of this concept is the simple truth that in coming to this country, one gains professional success and material wealth but one also gives up a great deal, most of which is intangible and abstract.
As Luna and Jane wonder about their husbands’ choice to become doctors in their home countries as opposed to in America — “how could somebody resist the difference?”
“The Heart Sellers” is a co-production between TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Aurora Theatre Company and Sacramento’s Capital Stage. It will run through April 27 at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Tickets are $34-$115. theatreworks.org.
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