Kim's Convenience - Park Theatre / Riverside Studios / Tour

Got my tickets for this! I love me a nice bit of Korean culture, especially since I was there on holiday.

I forgot to comment on this play.

Written and performed by Ins Choi, this is set in a convenience store owned and operated by a Korean immigrant. Very funny in bits, thoughtful at times, the odd bit of bordering on being offensive but not really and it's fun and for a purpose, this ends up as a quite charming little vignette. Also a play about one of the forgotten diversities, there are very few plays by east Asian writers or thematically or geographically related (the Arcola has done some work in this area).

A bright, convincing shop is the set for the action and looking at the items on offer was an education in itself. The son has left due to misunderstandings with Appa, the daughter is only interested in photography and shuns the shop and the wife rarely appears (least interesting role). Meanwhile Appa toys between retiring, selling (selling out?) and obsessing with anything Japanese - in a negative way. Will he hang on or will he find a successor?

Ins Choi himself plays Appa, the quirky, slightly cranky and overbearing - but with a heart of gold - family-man dad. Great comic touch. Also in the cast was Jennifer Kim as the sensible daughter and Miles Mitchell who was really very good playing several black characters but particularly Alex, the policeman who used to be a friend of Janet's at school and now resurfaces unexpectedly in her life....

I think it's done now but otherwise I would have recommended a visit. Should mention it is inspired by a sitcom by Choi which was unknown to me.

Oh nice, I'll make a trip to Hammersmith for this

Saw this and really enjoyed it, with one reservation.

Some spoilers follow. . .

This is one of those plays that looks at a lot by looking at a little - one day in Mr. Kim's convenience store in Toronto seems to condense a whole life, a whole generation. That the premise is rich enough to spawn a five season TV show is evident.

It's affable and genuinely funny, and the characters are likeable, most of all Mr. Kim himself, who is poignantly played by the author, a brilliantly blurting staccato Ins Choi, as a comedically opinionated man, alienated from his children, at a turning point in his life, yearning for a legacy.

joem has usefully described the plot, and I agree with his take on the play, but what he describes as "bordering on being offensive" probably would not be considered ok if it were written today. There are ways of dealing with older characters who carry with them vestiges of racist attitudes of days gone by without crossing the invisible moving line of what is impermissible. This one crosses it, I feel. I know if I was a black male wearing my favourite jeans jacket, I would feel deeply uncomfortable with some of the comedy featured here.

I'll explain in spoilers. . .

Anyway, with the above proviso, I liked pretty much everything else about the play. I'd give it 3 stars, rating lowered to reflect one instance of unintended racism.

It's a gentle character comedy, for sure, but I would suggest the main character ends up in a very different place at the end than when the show starts.

Going on tour, starting early 2025.

www.kimsconvenienceplay.com/