★★★★★
A convenience store has found its new home onstage at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith.
Kim’s Convenience, the hit play that was famously adapted into a hit TV series, features its playwright, Ins Choi, as Mr. Kim himself in this remarkable production, brought to life by Director Esther Jun and creatives Mona Camille (Set and Costume Designer), Jonathan Chan (Lighting Designer), and Adrienne Quartly (Sound Designer & Composer).
Choi stars alongside Jennifer Kim (Janet), Namju Go (Janet), Miles Mitchell (Rich / Mr Lee / Mike / Alex), and Edward Wu (Jung).
The play – which debuted in 2011 at the Toronto Fringe Festival and had its UK premiere at Park Theatre, London earlier this year – follows a Korean immigrant family in Canada, with the family business as the focal point.
It’s easy to see why the play was picked up as a sitcom — the script is genuinely funny and tactfully combines humour with evocative themes of race, sexuality, generational gaps, fractured families, and immigration.
While the play lures the audience into what feels like distilled comedy, it evolves into something profound as it tackles the communication and socialisation gap between Korean immigrants and their Canadian-born children, highlighting the nuances between first- and second-generation immigrants.
Even as it garners laughs from the audience, the punchlines are often indicative of something much deeper. Mr. Kim adamantly insists that his daughter calls the police for him — while the interaction is humorous, Kim’s refusal to ring them himself because of his accent hints at the struggle for immigrants to assimilate and be taken seriously, oftentimes counting on their children to serve as bridges to the rest of society.
The convenience store itself – wonderfully brought to life by set designer Mona Camille – offers a feeling of universality and familiarity, furnished as though it could be a corner shop just about anywhere in the world. Even while Mr. Kim continually recalls Korean history to justify his mistrust of Japanese people, the feeling of human oneness persists, as his dedication to the store is echoed by Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman, a Japanese novel.
In the play’s sagest moments, Mr. Kim ponders the trajectory of his life, his narrative as an immigrant, and what his legacy will be. He reflects on his decisions and the life he wanted for his children, one of whom is estranged from him. Parallel to this, his wife frequents a Korean church and makes observations about gentrification and the shuttering of Korean churches downtown, dispersing the diaspora.
Both parents cherish community, and Mr. Kim sees the convenience store as a crucial cornerstone of their community, hoping this will determine his legacy.
Choi brings an autobiographical sentiment to the play, as he himself has reflected on Korean identity in the Anglosphere and on the weight attached to parental terms of endearment like “Appa” and “Umma.”
The play’s resolution is one of intergenerational healing.
Kim’s Convenience runs at Riverside Studios until October 26.
You can watch the CBC TV series on Netflix.
Photo: Danny Kaan
JADAR 