Review: KIM'S CONVENIENCE, Park Theatre

In July 2018, a little series titled Kim’s Convenience was released internationally on Netflix. It followed the daily lives of a Korean Canadian family who runs a convenience store in Toronto. The Canadian venture had premiered a few years earlier locally, but the project was born at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival in the shape of a play with the same title. The show went on to have five seasons before ending prematurely with a bunch of controversies attached to it. It was a delightful surprise when the Park Theatre announced that the piece would finally have its British debut with the writer, Ins Choi, starring as the proud owner and patriarch.

Mr Kim wrestles with the societal shift his shop faces while coming to terms with the generational gap between him - a first-generation immigrant - and his Canada-born children. It’s amusing and witty, but fairly outdated in many aspects. The humour is largely situational, steeped in the lost-in-translation exchanges that Appa (which means "father" in Korean) has with his customers and the history of racial prejudice that has been ingrained in him since he was young. Choi spins the bias around by having the character of Janet, Appa’s daughter, ready to keep her father in check and calling out his irrational behaviours. 

The biggest concern one has is that the gags are mainly centred on Appa’s accent and his inability to communicate smoothly with his Canadian nationals. It starts a vicious circle of having a slice of audience laugh at him before they do so with him, tipping the balance of what’s appropriate. Mind you, Kim’s Convenience is genuinely funny, roaringly so. The production is, however, not a straight comedy. It paints quite a bitter picture. It’s an epistle dedicated to first-generation migrants, and many will relate to the cultural clash and linguistic misunderstandings of moving abroad.

Esther Jun (who originated the role of Janet) directs with a tender touch. She points out all the guilt tripping and emotional blackmail that Appa throws onto his daughter, but smooths it out with a crystal clear understanding of generational trauma. This said, the material itself tends to gloss over Appa’s shortcomings as a father and his sentimental ineptitude, leaving their rocky relationships unaddressed up in the air. The action develops inside a gorgeous reproduction of Appa’s mini-mart designed by Mona Camille with an astonishing attention to detail. The set is a feast for the eyes: it looks like a fully functional corner shop. 

Between non-existent displays of love and a healthy dose of family turmoil, the Kims’ bond grows stronger. Their challenges are taken at face value and generally left as they are, which is rather disappointing, but it’s nonetheless a joy to see a play entirely revolving around the personal matters of immigrants that aren’t strictly about their relocation. For instance, while the threat of gentrification looms over their independent business, it isn’t particularly integrated into the intergenerational discord, which prefers to reflect how the concepts of ambition and success have changed.

The playwright excels as the cantankerous patriarch of the family who’s not very willing to compromise. Choi enters the stage in silence, starting Appa’s day by turning on the lights in the shop, putting back the cash drawer, and making himself a drink; so much of Appa’s personality is established without his uttering a single word. He’s joined by Namju Go as Umma ("mother"), who only speaks to her husband in Korean. A meek presence, she’s the only one who’s still in touch with her estranged son Jung (Brian Law). Jennifer Kim finalises the core cast as the strong-headed, ambitious daughter who tries her hand at breaching the distance between her and her parents and takes her place in the country (and everything it entails) for granted.

All in all, Kim’s Convenience is a step forward when it comes to the staging of immigrant stories. Its humour is to be taken with a pinch of salt, but it’s a solid dramedy once you approach it with the necessary preamble. It’s fun. Now let’s see the same support shown to the original plays written by our own new writers.

Kim's Convenience runs at the Park Theatre until 10 February.

Photo credit: Mark Douet

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