Jesa involves preparing a meal for one’s ancestors with specific sorts of dishes that are set out in a ritual manner. Such annual rites are to some extent observed to promote family unity and harmony, so of course the play ironically will observe these sisters variously embroiled in squabbles, personal worries, simmering resentments and conflicting feelings about their mother and father.
The evening is hosted by Grace (Shannon Tyo) in her suburban Orange County California home, decorated in boring shades of taupe and tan. Grace is the anxious perfectionist whose ideal marriage gradually is revealed to be on the rocks for surprising reasons. The eldest sibling, Tina (Tina Chilip), arriving on her chopper with the booze, is the bad girl who’s making good as a restaurant chef. Elizabeth (Laura Sohn) is the baby sister who is getting rich as an executive in the financial sector and is pleased to pay tonight’s expenses. Traveling from New York City, where she struggles as an underpaid theater director, is Brenda (Christine Heesun Hwang), all angst and arm tats.
The kitchen mishaps, drunken truths and existential crises that subsequently arise seem standard for these family sagas (regardless of culture), but the jesa ritual itself — and the women’s casual variations — lends the story greater interest. Later, a supernatural element creeps into the 90-minute play. Let’s leave to those who attend the show the question of whether the resulting climax resonates or registers merely as a dramatic device. Whichever, the playwright provides naturally flowing conversation and the sororal dynamics she explores may especially appeal to female viewers with sisters.
Mei Ann Teo, the director, draws solid, agreeable performances from the actors while neatly staging the play in an attractive production for the Ma-Yi Theater Company, which is currently in residence at the Public Theater. Working in the 99-seat Shiva space that presents a broad but shallow acting area, You-Shin Chen, the scenic designer, modestly furnishes an airy great room and kitchen layout that reflects Grace’s ultra-conventional taste. Thomas Jenkeleit, the prop designer, produces the working appliances and elaborate jesa foodstuffs and regalia which the actors dexterously handle. Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, the lighting designer, and Hao Bai, the sound designer, deliver the effects necessary for the climactic sequence that shall not be revealed here.
Jesa opened March 20, 2026, at the Public Theater and runs through April 12. Tickets and information: publictheater.org
