The Heart Sellers Set to Open July 11

VIRGINIA THEATRE FESTIVAL TO PRESENT LLOYD SUH’S MOVING NEW COMEDY THE HEART SELLERS 

July 11-20 at The Helms Theatre  

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – July 9, 2025 – The Virginia Theatre Festival will continue its 51st season with The Heart Sellers,  a sweet, funny, and deeply moving one-act play about two young immigrant women forging a friendship amidst the changing landscape of 1970’s America. 

The Heart Sellers, directed by Desdemona Chiang, will run from July 11-20 in the Helms Theatre. Tickets start at only $15.00. 

Pulitzer Prize-finalist Lloyd Suh’s play highlights the experiences of two 20-something immigrant women, one from the Philippines and one from South Korea, who meet, by chance, in a grocery store on Thanksgiving night. Set in 1973, eight years after the passing of the Hart-Celler Act, which abolished immigration quotas in America, the play finds Luna and Jane bonding over their common longing for the homes they left behind and the excitement for what lies ahead in a new land.  

The play is personal for its director, as well as for both of its actors.  

“My parents are direct beneficiaries of the Hart-Celler Act,” Chiang said. “They immigrated to America from Taiwan in the late 1970’s on student visas to study computer science at California State University in Fullerton, California. Both of our cast members, Amaya Braganza and Bridget Kim, are also the children of immigrants, and are drawing on their own mothers and aunts as they explore these characters.” 

While many immigrant stories are focused entirely on the challenges of a new land, Chiang points out The Heart Sellers also focuses on the equally important and often overlooked issue of all that is left behind.  

“I think because we are so forward-looking as a country,” she said, “we tend to hear people say things like ‘I came here for my children, or for a better life, or for a career.’ You rarely hear people talking about leaving behind a family, or a perfectly good career. These characters take us through that side of the story as well.” 

Such issues can be weighty, she added, but The Heart Sellers presents them with the kind of humor that gets us all through difficult situations. “The show will tug at your heartstrings,” Chiang said, “but it is also very sweet, and it is very funny,” she said. “The danger with a play like this is that it could get highly sentimental, but Lloyd Suh was intentional about adding humor just at the right moments to deflect, dismiss, or evade the heftier topics like isolation, homesickness or regret.”  

The play, Chiang said, is also about the power of friendship, even in the most extreme circumstances. “These two women have nothing in common but for the sense of displacement, isolation, and the uncertainty they both feel. They are very different as people and come from very different family backgrounds. But here they are, thrown together on a night that is supposed to be all about food, gratitude, and family, and here they are alone with only each other to turn to.” 

Casting for The Heart Sellers is by Katja Zarolinski, CSA. 

The Heart Sellers is presented through special arrangement with TRW PLAYS 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. www.trwplays.com. 

The Virginia Theatre Festival is a program of the University of Virginia, with support from the Office of the Provost, Vice Provost for the Arts, The Caplin Foundation, The Thomas and Carolyn Witt Foundation, UVA Arts Council, College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Department of Drama. 

The 2025 Virginia Theatre Festival is also supported by a generous grant from The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. The Heart Sellers is presented by C-VILLE Weekly. 

The 51st Virginia Theatre Festival season will conclude with a tribute to the songs of Judy Garland with Get Happy! – A Celebration of the World’s Greatest Entertainer with Jenna Pastuszek (July 24-27 in the Ruth Caplin Theatre). Tickets for the 2025 season are on sale now at virginiatheatrefestival.org. Volunteer opportunities are also available this summer, and more information can be found here.   

VTF donors provide essential support to the organization, while enjoying exclusive benefits like complimentary tickets, invitations to special events, behind-the-scenes access, and more. For more information on ways to support the upcoming season, visit virginiatheatrefestival.org/support. 

To learn more about the Virginia Theatre Festival and its upcoming 51st season, visit virginiatheatrefestival.org.