The Huntington delivers a heartful of soul with Lloyd Suh's 'Heart Sellers'

Striking up conversations with strangers is a skill that, when wielded well in the right circumstance, could change one’s life for the better. So, when Luna, an extroverted young wife from the Philippines, spots a woman donning the same coat as hers in the grocery store, she takes a gamble and invites the person, Jane, to her apartment. Jane, who is from Korea, accepts. The women, both trying to assimilate to life in America, embark upon an emotional night bonding over the homes and families they left behind as they talk of how power, or the lack thereof, shapes them in Lloyd Suh’s tender, extraordinarily rendered tale, “The Heart Sellers,” at Huntington Theatre Company’s Wimberly Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion through Dec.23.

It’s 1973, eight years after the passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart- Celler Act. This law aimed to formally “remove de facto discrimination” against immigrants to the US. Luna asserts that now more people can come to America, not just those from “white people places.”

Luna’s (a vivacious Jenna Agbayani) apartment, expertly packed with the pantones of the decade — mustard, brown, avocado and orange — courtesy of costume and scenic Junghyun Georgia Lee, decorate her wallpaper, couch, chairs and cabinets. It’s Thanksgiving and Luna’s got a big turkey and yams to cook before her husband gets home from work. Jane, portrayed by a dynamic Judy Song, steps in to help. She’s been watching lots of American TV, namely Julia Child, and is confident she can cook Luna’s large, frozen turkey.

But as the two strangers listen to radio coverage of President Nixon’s Watergate scandal and later try to ever-so-slowly dance to the Carpenters’ “For All We Know,” the audience learns of their dreams and their loneliness. Jane wants her art to hang on the walls with the likes of Monet and van Gogh. If she could, she would paint Luna’s “smile and her sadness.” And Luna, who loves to sing, performs a tune from home and soon starts to cry. Whenever either of them gets too sad they pour more wine and vow to “smile and be happy.”

May Andrales’ soulful direction combined with superb acting, helps Suh’s writing — with masterful metaphors — sing. Jane recalls watching her dad coach soccer and likens her life to a game that she watches but cannot play. Luna, who misses the smells and sights of Manila, laments over having children who won’t understand how she loves them because they don’t know or understand how her mother loved her or where they come from. The ability to fit in, it seems, costs much more than initially realized.

To complement the theme of being othered in “The Heart Sellers,” there’s a mini-exhibit of lunchboxes with “Be Like Everyone Else” painted on a counter in the lobby. The more extensive exhibit by Amie Bantz is a collection of stories detailing the experiences of  Asian Americans kids who brought traditional meals for lunch. The narratives are spray painted on lunch boxes.

The ability to fit in, it seems, costs much more than initially realized.

Suh is the winner of the 2019 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts in theater and a former recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for the Arts. His work explores Asian stories while elegantly and subtly delving into universal themes of the human condition. His play “The Chinese Lady” digs into the true story of Afong Moy, a young girl from Guangzhou, China, who was put on display in America. The play premiered at Barrington Stage Company in 2018 and was staged at Central Square Theater last year.

In “The Heart Sellers,” despite the longing and sadness the characters carry, the two radiate joy and hope for a bright future. Jane, a lover of “Soul Train,” shows Luna her moves, and they vow to go to a nightclub to dance; they also have an intimate conversation about their love lives. That night in the apartment, though, it’s the Thanksgiving holiday, not their husbands or duties, that thwart their big plans for fun and freedom. By the end of the night, it’s clear that this chance meeting may have changed things. Now, they can envision a deep friendship that helps them cope and even exercise some form of control of their lives. Maybe they will meet up again, stay connected, and plan what they will do tomorrow.

The Huntington Theatre Company’s “The Heart Sellers” runs through Dec. 23 at the Calderwood Pavilion.