REVIEW
✭✭✭☆☆ 3/5
KIM'S CONVENIENCE
by Ins Choi
Palace Theatre
Southend
Monday 31st March to Wednesday 2nd April 2025
✭✭✭☆☆ 3/5
KIM'S CONVENIENCE
by Ins Choi
Palace Theatre
Southend
Monday 31st March to Wednesday 2nd April 2025
Kim's Convenience, written by Ins Choi, is a heartfelt and humorous exploration of family, culture, and identity. Originally a stage play which was then turned into a successful Netflix series, it now returns to its original format and is a few weeks into its UK tour stopping at the Palace Theatre, Southend this week.
The play takes place in a small convenience store in Toronto, owned by Mr. Kim, a proud and stubborn Korean-Canadian immigrant played by James Yi who also performed in the tv series as another character.
The set, designed by Mona Camille, looks just as you would expect a convenience store to look and you almost feel as if you are about to watch a recording of a tv episode, rather than a play and in fact, the whole production kind of has this vibe. As the store becomes a backdrop for family drama, Mr Kim struggles to reconcile his traditional values with the modern world around him, especially when it comes to his daughter Janet (Caroline Donica), who is eager to break free from the expectations he has for her and find a career in photography.
Meanwhile, his wife, Umma (Candace Leung), plays the role of peacemaker, trying to keep the family together, despite their generational and cultural differences as tensions rise and old wounds are reopened and, in this respect, for a play billed as an hilarious stage comedy, I would probably beg to differ. If you’re coming into this show without any prior knowledge of it, like me, you have to take things at face value and for me this was a little deeper than I was expecting. That said, it’s a great observational comedy based on just how dysfunctional any family life can be. The Korean aspect certainly gives it more grounds to find humour in its cultural views, but there are also issues that will resonate with any modern day family. A father who has worked his butt off to provide a good home and education for his children; and children who have come to expect to be given everything on a plate with a certain sense of entitlement.
The essence of the storyline is that Mr Kim wants to keep the shop in the family and when he is offered a large sum of money to sell the shop to property developers and be forced into retirement, it reiterates the dilemma and the fact that his 30 year old daughter, Janet, has her own aspirations away from the store and after the blazing row he had with his son, Jung, many years ago, means that there will be no-one to carry on his legacy and years of hard work.
There are some lovely performances in this play and you can feel that the writer has invested knowledge of what these characters are all about. Ins Choi, alongside his own parents and siblings, arrived in Canada in 1975 with just 200 hundred dollars in search of freedom and a new start from Japanese invasion in war torn Korea. They lived above their uncle’s convenience store and the play is an homage to his parents who worked hard to provide for the family.
There are, naturally, plenty of humorous although perhaps a little non-pc moments, one in particular where Mr Kim shows his rather stereotypical borderline racist side with a game of ‘steal or no steal’. A black man comes into the store and Mr Kim goes through a whole plethora of racial and physical stereotypes of whom he knows from experience, will steal or not steal from the shop, much to his daughter’s absolute horror. The fact that he mocks his own culture redeems him.
Caroline Donica as daughter Janet gets to highlight the angst that second generation immigrants have with her needing to be part of her own culture but also trying to appease her father’s traditional values at the same time. Candace Leung as the mother stuck between trying to keep the peace between her children and husband does a nice job, alongside Daniel Phung as Jung, the estranged son she meets up with at church in order to stay in touch. Andrew Gichigi does a splendid job creating each of the characters of Alex, Rich, Mr Lee and Mike and James Yi does a great job as Mr Kim giving some heart and depth to the somewhat stubborn and stereotypical Korean shopkeeper role.
It does feel more like you’re watching a sitcom rather than a play in some ways. It’s a gentle watch despite the punchy moments and the 80 minute One Act performance is probably just about right with the best laughs coming more towards the end. There were also times when voices were a little quiet and more projection needed for those of us sitting at the back of the theatre, especially when one audience member decided to start on a bag of crisps and loudly crunched their way through them. This show may have been quoted as being 'popcorn theatre' but that doesn’t necessitate munching your way through it. A bit of theatre etiquette please!
Kim’s Convenience is actually a rather touching story about love, reconciliation, and the struggle for immigrant families to understand one another across different cultures. If you’re a fan of the show already then I’m sure there will be lots to reminisce on but if it’s your first visit, then it may take a while to embrace this rather quirky play. Either way, it makes for an entertaining evening.
Review: Kim Tobin
The play takes place in a small convenience store in Toronto, owned by Mr. Kim, a proud and stubborn Korean-Canadian immigrant played by James Yi who also performed in the tv series as another character.
The set, designed by Mona Camille, looks just as you would expect a convenience store to look and you almost feel as if you are about to watch a recording of a tv episode, rather than a play and in fact, the whole production kind of has this vibe. As the store becomes a backdrop for family drama, Mr Kim struggles to reconcile his traditional values with the modern world around him, especially when it comes to his daughter Janet (Caroline Donica), who is eager to break free from the expectations he has for her and find a career in photography.
Meanwhile, his wife, Umma (Candace Leung), plays the role of peacemaker, trying to keep the family together, despite their generational and cultural differences as tensions rise and old wounds are reopened and, in this respect, for a play billed as an hilarious stage comedy, I would probably beg to differ. If you’re coming into this show without any prior knowledge of it, like me, you have to take things at face value and for me this was a little deeper than I was expecting. That said, it’s a great observational comedy based on just how dysfunctional any family life can be. The Korean aspect certainly gives it more grounds to find humour in its cultural views, but there are also issues that will resonate with any modern day family. A father who has worked his butt off to provide a good home and education for his children; and children who have come to expect to be given everything on a plate with a certain sense of entitlement.
The essence of the storyline is that Mr Kim wants to keep the shop in the family and when he is offered a large sum of money to sell the shop to property developers and be forced into retirement, it reiterates the dilemma and the fact that his 30 year old daughter, Janet, has her own aspirations away from the store and after the blazing row he had with his son, Jung, many years ago, means that there will be no-one to carry on his legacy and years of hard work.
There are some lovely performances in this play and you can feel that the writer has invested knowledge of what these characters are all about. Ins Choi, alongside his own parents and siblings, arrived in Canada in 1975 with just 200 hundred dollars in search of freedom and a new start from Japanese invasion in war torn Korea. They lived above their uncle’s convenience store and the play is an homage to his parents who worked hard to provide for the family.
There are, naturally, plenty of humorous although perhaps a little non-pc moments, one in particular where Mr Kim shows his rather stereotypical borderline racist side with a game of ‘steal or no steal’. A black man comes into the store and Mr Kim goes through a whole plethora of racial and physical stereotypes of whom he knows from experience, will steal or not steal from the shop, much to his daughter’s absolute horror. The fact that he mocks his own culture redeems him.
Caroline Donica as daughter Janet gets to highlight the angst that second generation immigrants have with her needing to be part of her own culture but also trying to appease her father’s traditional values at the same time. Candace Leung as the mother stuck between trying to keep the peace between her children and husband does a nice job, alongside Daniel Phung as Jung, the estranged son she meets up with at church in order to stay in touch. Andrew Gichigi does a splendid job creating each of the characters of Alex, Rich, Mr Lee and Mike and James Yi does a great job as Mr Kim giving some heart and depth to the somewhat stubborn and stereotypical Korean shopkeeper role.
It does feel more like you’re watching a sitcom rather than a play in some ways. It’s a gentle watch despite the punchy moments and the 80 minute One Act performance is probably just about right with the best laughs coming more towards the end. There were also times when voices were a little quiet and more projection needed for those of us sitting at the back of the theatre, especially when one audience member decided to start on a bag of crisps and loudly crunched their way through them. This show may have been quoted as being 'popcorn theatre' but that doesn’t necessitate munching your way through it. A bit of theatre etiquette please!
Kim’s Convenience is actually a rather touching story about love, reconciliation, and the struggle for immigrant families to understand one another across different cultures. If you’re a fan of the show already then I’m sure there will be lots to reminisce on but if it’s your first visit, then it may take a while to embrace this rather quirky play. Either way, it makes for an entertaining evening.
Review: Kim Tobin
Photo: Danny Kaan