Northlight Theatre continues 2024-2025 season with
The Heart Sellers
By Lloyd Suh
Directed by Helen Young
January 23 – February 23, 2025
Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, continues its 2024–2025 season with The Heart Sellers, Lloyd Suh’s funny and moving play about the Asian immigrant experience in the 1970s, directed by Helen Young. The Heart Sellers runs January 23 – February 23, 2025, at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie. I'll be out for the press opening January 30th so check back soon for my full review.
It’s Thanksgiving 1973, and life in the USA is lonely for recent Asian immigrants Jane and Luna, with their workaholic husbands leaving them to fend for themselves. Over sips of wine and a questionable frozen turkey, they reminisce about home and dream of spreading their wings together in the land of opportunity: disco dancing, learning to drive, and even a visit to Disneyland. Inspired by the landmark “Hart-Celler Act” which opened a new path to citizenship for people around the world, this funny and moving play gives a big-hearted voice to the Asian immigrant experience.
Artistic Director BJ Jones comments, “Lloyd Suh’s play offers the tale of two women from different countries and cultures, learning about each other, their new home, and the odd custom of cooking a turkey to celebrate America’s uncomfortable beginnings. The metaphor is not lost on us, and we root for these women and their own journeys. It’s a deceptively funny and yet profound tale. These brave pioneers struggle to learn about each other and their new life. It’s a glimpse of our own ancestors' journeys, and conversely, reflects the very moment that occupies the national conversation today. It offers the opportunity for us to have compassion for those who seek a better life and, one would argue, contribute to the strength and quality of ours.”
The cast is: Aja Alcazar (Luna) and Seoyoung Park (Jane).
The creative team includes: John Culbert (Set Design), Jessica Kuehnau Wardell (Costume Design), Maggie Fullilove-Nugent (Co-Lighting Design), Josiah Croegaert (Co-Lighting Designer), Forrest Gregor (Sound Design) and Nicolas Bartleson (Properties Designer). Jooyoung Cho is the dramaturg and Katie Klemme is the production stage manager).
Tickets for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season, including The Heart Sellers, Prayer for the French Republic, and Twisted Melodies, are now on sale through the box office, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie; 847.673.6300; northlight.org.
About the Artists
Lloyd Suh (Playwright), a second-generation Korean-American playwright, explores Asian American identity, culture, and history in his works, including The Chinese Lady, Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery, American Hwangap, and more. His plays have been staged at notable U.S. theaters such as the Atlantic Theater Company, The Public Theater, and Berkeley Rep, as well as internationally in the Philippines and South Korea. Suh has received prestigious accolades, including the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Herb Alpert Award, the Horton Foote Prize, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. From 2005 to 2010, he was the artistic director of Second Generation Theatre Company and co-director of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab. He also served as director of artistic programs at The Lark from 2011 to 2020. A resident playwright at New Dramatists, Suh is a member of the Actors Studio and Ensemble Studio Theatre. He holds a B.A. in English from Indiana University and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from the Actors Studio Drama School. In 2024, he joined Princeton University’s faculty at the Lewis Center for the Arts.
Helen Young (Director) Northlight Theatre debut. Selected credits: What the Constitution Means to Me, Black Sunday, The Chinese Lady, Building a Bridge Toward Asian Visibility (online event with Stephanie Hsu) - Timeline Theatre; The Great Leap - Farmers Alley Theatre; American Hwangap - ASquared; Tiny Dynamite - Halcyon/ASquared; Tea - Prologue Theatre; Wild Boar, New China Festival - Silk Road. Other directing credits include work with: Rivendell, LifeLine, Goodman, Strawdog, Steppenwolf, Depaul, Remy Bumppo, Chicago Dramatists, Artemisia, Artistic Home, Token, Miranda Theatre's Liz Smith Reading Series at the Cherry Lane. Young is a company member at Timeline Theatre Company. Young is also a SAG/AFTRA actor represented by Grossman Jack Talent. Film/TV credits: Chicago Med, PD, Justice; Stranger Than Fiction, The Prize (Producer).
Aja Alcazar (Luna) (she/her) has appeared in Chicago in The Penelopiad (Goodman); Ring of Fire (Drury Lane); Cambodian Rock Band (Victory Gardens); Merrily We Roll Along (Porchlight); Aristophanesathon, Cinderella (Hypocrites), Hookman (Steep); Little Fish (Kokandy); The Wedding Singer (Haven); Spring Awakening (Griffin Theatre). Regional credits: I Oughta Be in Pictures, The Angel Next Door, Million Dollar Quartet (Peninsula Players); Cambodian Rock Band (City Theatre, Merrimack Repertory); Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore (Olney Theatre Center); A Christmas Carol (Milwaukee Repertory); Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (South Coast Repertory). Aja is represented by Stewart Talent Chicago and Brave Artists LA.
Seoyoung Park (Jane) was born and raised in Seoul, Korea, Seoyoung now proudly calls Chicago her second home. She is passionate about contributing to the diversity of Chicago's vibrant theatre scene. Recent credits include The Long Christmas Dinner, Attempts on Her Life (TUTA Theatre), Indecent (ARKO/Korea Premiere), tvN's Criminal Minds, and more. Education: MFA in Acting, TTS at DePaul University; BA and MA in Acting, Chung-Ang University. Represented by DDO Artists Agency. www.seoyoungpark.com @psych0_0p
Dates:
Previews begin January 23, 2025
Press Opening: Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 7:30pm
Regular run: January 31 – February 23, 2025
Schedule:
Tuesdays: 7:30pm
Wednesdays: 1:00pm and 7:30pm
Thursdays: 7:30pm
Fridays: 7:30pm
Saturdays: 2:30pm and 7:30pm
Sundays: 2:30pm and 7:30pm
Backstage with BJ – Northlight’s popular discussion series with Artistic Director BJ Jones – will be held January 17 at 12pm.
An Open Captioned performance will be held on Friday, February 14 at 7:30pm. An Open Captioned and Audio Described/Touch Tour performance will be held on Saturday, February 15 at 2:30pm.
Location: Northlight Theatre is located at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie
Tickets:
Previews: $35-$74
Regular run: $49-$91
Student tickets are $15, any performance (subject to availability)
Box Office: The Box Office is located at 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie.
847.673.6300; northlight.org
Director Helen Young has worked in Chicago at Rivendell, LifeLine, Goodman, Strawdog, Steppenwolf, DePaul, Remy Bumppo, Chicago Dramatists, Artemisia, Artistic Home and Token, among others. This is her Northlight Theatre debut.
Aja Alcazar (Luna) (she/her) has worked extensively on Chicago stages, including The Penelopiad (Goodman); Ring of Fire (Drury Lane); Cambodian Rock Band (Victory Gardens); and Merrily We Roll Along (Porchlight).
Prior to relocating to Chicago, Seoyoung Park built a diverse career in the Korean entertainment industry, featuring in various TV shows and films, including Criminal Minds and Don’t Dare to Dream. Her theatre credits include the devised play Linmiathes (Hypsipyle) at Hydra Theatre in Greece and Indecent (Halina) at Daehakro Arts Theatre in Seoul.
2024-2025 Season
The 2024-2025 season continues with Joshua Harmon’s celebrated play Prayer for the French Republic, directed by Jeremy Wechsler in a co-production with Theater Wit, April 10 – May 11, 2025. The season closes with the mesmerizing one-man show about Donny Hathaway, Twisted Melodies, written and performed by Kelvin Roston Jr, July 10-August 10, 2025.
Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences, reflecting our community to the world and the world to our community.
Founded in 1974, the organization has mounted over 240 productions, including more than 45 world premieres. Northlight has earned 230 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and 36 Awards, as well as 11 Edgerton Foundation for New Play Awards. As one of the area’s premier theatre companies, Northlight is a regional magnet for critical and professional acclaim, as well as talent of the highest quality.
Northlight is supported in part by generous contributions BMO Harris Bank; Bulley & Andrews; Byline Bank; ComEd, An Exelon Company; Dr. Scholl Foundation; Eckenhoff Saunders Architects, Inc.; The Field Foundation of Illinois; Full Circle Foundation; Grumman Butkus Associates; Hagerty Consulting; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; John R Halligan Charitable Fund; LionBird; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Mabadi Realty; Mammel Family Foundation; Modestus Bauer Foundation; Northwestern University; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Pritzker Foundation; The Schubert Foundation, Inc.; The Sullivan Family Foundation; The Weatherlow Foundation; Tom Stringer Design Partners.
