It’s a truism that American is a country built on immigrants, but it’s not often we see that story told from an Asian-American, female point of view. That’s one reason Lloyd Suh’s The Heart Sellers, now onstage at Florida Studio Theatre’s Keating Theatre, is an interesting, engaging piece.

The work’s title derives from a play on words related to the Immigration Act of 1965—actually the Hart-Celler Act, drawn from its legislative sponsors—which addressed the decades-long inequities of where those coming to this country originated. Most had traditionally been from Europe; the act was intended to replace a national origins quota system and allow immigrants from more countries, based on their skills and their relationships to those already here.

In the case of this intimate, small-scale story, we see how that act has affected its two characters, Luna (Rona Figueroa) and Jane (Michelle Heera Kim). They are from different nations—Luna from the Philippines and Jane from Korea—but both have arrived in the United States because their husbands are attending medical school here. Both are also lonely and desperately trying to assimilate, so when the more outgoing Luna randomly invites Jane to her apartment after meeting her in a grocery story on Thanksgiving Day, 1973, Jane surprises herself by accepting.

Much of the dialogue of this one-act, 80-minute play revolves around the two trying to fit into their new home, albeit most comedically by attempting to cook a frozen turkey in the oven at 400 degrees. That’s Jane’s suggestion, based on her watching of chef Julia Child’s TV programs. But it’s Luna who presents a wine bottle, and although Jane at first demurs, thinking it not proper, you know she will give in and, set free by alcohol, the women will begin to pour out their hearts as well as the vino.

Suh’s play nicely delineates the differences between Luna and Jane, as far as their cultural and family backgrounds, so that we can see that the vast population of Asians in this world is not a monolith. But they do have some things in common: a fascination with K-Mart (it feels like a museum of Americana to them); the felt need to change their names to make them trip more easily on American tongues; and, finally, the shared knowledge that they will never really be able to go back “home,” at least not emotionally. They are, for better or worse, living in Nixon-era America, and their futures are for them to make there as best they can.

There’s a good deal of comedy in Suh’s play, some of it springing from Luna and Jane’s idiosyncratic interpretations of the English language. But there is also poignancy, as when Luna delivers a sweet version of a Beatles song, or Jane recalls lost members of her family back in Korea. The two actresses, under the sympathetic direction of Kate Alexander, blend nicely into their roles and relationships, despite the age difference between them. (Ideally, the two would more likely be about the same age, as med school wives.)

They’re backed by Isabel A. and Moriah Curley-Clay’s set design, which clearly evokes that dreaded ‘70s-era décor with a shag rug, fake wood kitchen cabinets, green appliances and a pair of dining chairs you may recognize from your youth. It all helps to set the tone of a time and situation, while overall we are reminded that the immigrant experience is as timeless as it is both universal and yet deeply personal.

The Heart Sellers continues through Feb. 16; for tickets, call (941) 366-9000 or visit floridastudiotheatre.org.