Review: Kim’s Convenience
Review: Kim’s Convenience
Kim’s Convenience first premiered back in 2011 at the Toronto Fringe, it went on to win awards, inspire a Netflix smash show, and has been reprised in the UK with Park Theatre. It is now touring with a cast that reunites James Yi (who was in the Netflix show) as the patriarch Appa with Caroline Donica as his on-stage daughter Janet.
Written by Ins Choi, the story takes place in a shop in Canada and recounts the immigrant experience of a Korean man who did what he could to set up a better life for his family. His daughter wants to forge her own path as a photographer, and his estranged son is doing a job he hates leasing discount cars. The tale flits between just two sets – the delightfully recreated shop with all its colourful packaging of both Korean and Western goods – and a church where the mother meets her son.
I’d not seen the TV show but from what I’d read about the play before watching, I was expecting laugh-out loud funny, something akin to a sitcom, and a sometimes syrupy and stereotypical view of immigrant life. What I was not prepared for was something that actually really tugged at the heartstrings.
Yes, there are certainly stereotypes and the jokes often come at the expense of those, but there are moving moments. The daughter hugs her father, who is of that generation where such displays of emotion are uncomfortable but much-needed.
The moment between mum and estranged son (Daniel Phung) in the church are lovely, and between Appa and Umma (Candace Leung): when they have some lines they speak in Korean, they say so much even if you don’t speak the language. Andrew Gichigi moves between four characters well and is charming as the policemen and potential boyfriend of the daughter (Donica portrays well the dutiful yet exasperated Janet).
Ins Choi calls the play his “love letter to his parents and to all first-generation immigrants who now call Canada their home.” It is beautifully done. While it doesn’t explore the deeper issues around the immigrant experience, it is a touching play, universal in its themes of family expectations, and ultimately an enjoyable watch.
At Rose Theatre until 29 March, and touring the UK until July
Photos: Victoria Davies
