Christine Heesun Hwang, Laura Sohn, Shannon Tyo, Tina Chilip (Photo: Joan Marcus)
Jesa
By Fern Siegel
As four sisters gather on the anniversary of their father’s death for a jesa, a Korean ritual to honor the dead, tensions mount. Their emotions run the gamut from reverence to regret, rage to resentment. After all, family harmony is often more myth than reality. For many, turmoil is just beneath the surface. It only takes a reunion for one accusation or a callous dismissal to spark an explosion.
That’s the premise that underpins Jesa, now off-Broadway at The Public Theater.
Written by Jenna Yi and directed by Mei Ann Teo, Jesa is an intimate chamber piece that neatly dissects the tangled, complicated relationships among four sisters and their dead parents. No two children have the same parent — and no sisters share the same perceptions of how to honor or remember them, especially when their experiences differ.
Sibling rivalry is at the forefront. Grace (Shannon Tyo) holds the ceremony in her home, which is devoid of her husband. She says he’s traveling, and her young daughter is asleep upstairs. The claim is backed by financier Elizabeth (Laura Sohn), whose success is in direct contrast to the others. But as the evening unfolds, that assumption is challenged by theater director Brenda (Christine Heesun Hwang) and wild child Tina (Tina Chilip). Both resent Grace’s insistence on tradition, even as they struggle with their own anxieties.
As playwright Tao illustrates each woman’s assessment of their parents’ marriage and individual flaws, Jesa reveals the lies we tell ourselves in order to survive. Were their parents happy? Are their adult lives fulfilled? Who was the favorite child? Who flaunts Korean conventions and why?
The quad’s arguments, clearly springing from childhood, often pit Elizabeth and Grace against Tina and Brenda. The cultural distinctions are interesting — like all first-generation children, the Korean-American women traverse a rocky terrain of tradition and modernity. But their emotional turmoil is universal.
Laura Sohn, Christine Heesun Hwang, Shannon Tyo, Tina Chilip (Photo: Joan Marcus)
A larger issue for audiences: There is no real drama at stake. The parents are gone — and the sisters assume some of their least-desirable traits. They share a difficult relationship with each other, assembling out of obligation rather than love. Yet the bonds, however tenuous, exist.
So do the ghosts of their parents — thanks to sound design by Hao Bai and lighting by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew. You-Shin Chen’s set design is inside Grace’s Orange County, California, home. (“The only Cape Cod-style house in four blocks,” she insists.) The photos on the wall and the spotless housekeeping suggest order and calm. But appearances are deceiving. We are all haunted by the past.
Yi has crafted an interesting, human drama that offers both levity and violence, and Tao has gotten excellent performances from her cast. The sisters’ inheritance is a mixed one. They struggle to honor their parents, while navigating uncertain futures. Jesa is instantly relatable, thanks to a strong ensemble that balances extreme emotions with a masterful touch. But quarreling, however well delivered, isn’t enough. Yi needs to raise the stakes to make Jesa a truly elevated theatrical experience.
At The Public Theater
425 Lafayette St.
Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Through April 12, 2026
