Virginia Stage Company Presents THE HEART SELLERS

Sometimes the person who understands exactly what you're going through is the person you've only just met. Virginia Stage Company continues its 48th season with The Heart Sellers, Lloyd Suh's funny and heartfelt play about two immigrant women who meet by chance on Thanksgiving Day and discover an unexpected connection. The production runs October 14–25, 2026, at the historic Wells Theatre.

Set in 1973, The Heart Sellers introduces audiences to Luna, a Filipina immigrant, and Jane, a Korean immigrant, whose husbands are pursuing medical careers in the United States. Far from home and navigating a country that still feels unfamiliar, the two women find themselves spending Thanksgiving together. What begins as an awkward encounter becomes an evening of food, laughter, honesty and friendship.

Director Desdemona Chiang returns to the play after previously directing a production featuring actors Angeleia Ordoñez and Bridget Kim, who will reprise their roles as Luna and Jane at Virginia Stage Company.

For Chiang, part of the appeal of The Heart Sellers is just how enjoyable it is to spend time with these two women. “I think the play just goes down really easy,” Chiang said. “Sometimes I think a lot of times you go to the theater and all you see is doom and gloom and tragedy, and I think it's nice to just go and feel good about people.”

That warmth is balanced by a story that explores bigger questions about immigration, loneliness, identity and what it means to make a home somewhere new.

“I think it's rare to see...a relationship about this country told from the perspective of two women not from this country,” Chiang said. “And I think in some ways...a story about the American psyche as much as it is about female relationships.”

The title The Heart Sellers is a play on the Hart-Celler Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which dramatically changed U.S. immigration policy. But audiences don't need to know the history to connect with Luna and Jane. At its heart, the play is about two people who find friendship at a moment when they both need it.

“These two women are so different. Have nothing in common other than they are strangers in the strange land trying to figure things out,” Chiang said. “If anything, it's worth noting that even the most brief and transient relationships are still worthwhile.”

NEW DATES FOR THE HEART SELLERS

Originally scheduled to begin earlier in October, The Heart Sellers will now run October 14–25 as Virginia Stage Company continues its recovery from the severe flooding that struck the Wells Theatre in August. The company has been humbled by the extraordinary outpouring of support from Hampton Roads that helped reopen the theatre. While performances have resumed, VSC continues to assess equipment lost or damaged in the flooding and its longer-term financial impact.

Now, the focus turns to welcoming audiences back for the next story on the Wells Theatre stage.

When asked what she would tell someone who had never heard of The Heart Sellers and was deciding whether to see it, Chiang had a simple answer.

“Oh, go see it. Just say go see it,” Chiang said. “It's just a sweet...relationship story and it's a really interesting piece of...American history.”

The Heart Sellers runs October 14–25, 2026, at Virginia Stage Company's historic Wells Theatre, 110 E. Tazewell Street in downtown Norfolk.