Review by Sam Waite
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Earlier this year, Ins Choi’s Kim’s Convenience had its European premiere, playing at the Park Theatre with Choi himself playing the leading role. Already adapted to a beloved sitcom with its own short-lived spin-off, there was a sense of anticipation about this show finally making its way across the Atlantic, particularly with Choi attached so visibly. Proving its success, the play’s second London run has already arrived, this time at Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios.
Mr Kim, Appa to his family, immigrated to Canada to build a better life for his wife and children, opening and operating his own store – the titular Kim’s Convenience. With his son, Jung, long-estranged and now only seen by Mrs Kim during church services, Appa is determined that their daughter Janet learn the correct – i.e. his – ways of running the business, including his convoluted criteria for who will and will not steal when left unchecked in his store. When Janet’s frustrations at her own dreams being pushed aside bubbles to the surface, the family dynamics threaten to fracture and the pressures of provided the better life he intended do damage on all sides.
Ins Choi returned to his own play in the role of Appa, previously appearing as Jung in Toronto and New York productions. Proud, stubborn, and more than willing to push for things to be done the right – again, his – way, Choi’s Appa is an utter delight for the breezy, slice-of-life scenes that make up a good chunk of the script. When a disagreement with Janet becomes weightier, he also brings a deeply-felt frustration and long-gestating exhaustion to the part, leaving us both upset by and sympathetic towards the character. His relationship with his wife, played by fellow returning cast member Namju Go, is also easy to believe, the pair sharing a clear and sparkling chemistry, particularly helpful in ensuring that scenes performed entirely in Korean are easy to follow. Where Go has less to do than some of her castmates, she brings a grace and humour to the role that rounds out a lovable ensemble.
Also returning from the Park production are Jennifer Kim as Janet, and Miles Mitchell as her love interest Alex, as well as several visitors to the store. Kim’s work as the straight-woman to Choi’s madcap father is often comedy gold, and the heft she brings to the material’s focus on the expectations of immigrant families is touching and well-emoted. Her flirtations with Alex are also endlessly charming, aided by the sheer likability Mitchell brings to his role – the sparks fly so quickly that their romance isn’t an outcome, but an inevitability. Completing the cast is Edward Wu, taking over from Brian Law in the small but pivotal role of Jung. Not quite as believable as a former troublemaker struggling with his criminal record as Law was, there’s still an appropriate air of desperation and need for more in life to Wu’s performance, helping us to push the discrepancy aside.
Choi’s script is no less compelling than in the previous run, the slice-of-life, sitcom qualities still ensuring that the audience is constantly invested without the need for oversized, less realistic moments to drive the narrative. Admittedly, this is material that always felt more suited to a sitcom format than a theatrical one, but the play is still sharply observant and fun throughout, making it a worthy part of the series’ history and adding to the delight that things worked out for this property exactly as they should. Esther Jun’s Direction also keeps things wholly natural, the fourth wall played as an unseen section of the store and the cast set firmly into snarky sitcom (I’ll stop saying sitcom now) mode.
Mona Camille’s set is much the same as it was at the Park Theatre, but somehow looks even better for a more traditional, end-on staging. Detailed and well-stocked with merchandise accurate to a Toronto convenience store, the specifics of the items on display help to establish that there is more floorspace out of view with further products, and the shop floor looks like the brightly lit and attractively presented store its longtime owner would take Appa’s immense pride in. Touches like a Private Lives community theatre poster and flyers for local events help to ground the set within this fiction version of Toronto’s Regent Park, making Kim’s Convenience a fully-realised part of the local community.
Completing the sitcom (sorry!) vibe are the compositions of Adrienne Quartly, who also helps to establish the world just beyond the doors with her off-stage sound effects. Whether it’s a digital notification that the door has been opened, the trash landing in the dumpster, or simply the next customer arriving, downtown Toronto exists in softly-heard sounds outside Mr Kim’s store. Yes, the TV format is a better fit for the material, and yes, the resolution feels a bit too nice, a touch too swiftly wrapped up, but the drama is moving, the comedy consistent, and the family dynamics genuinely touching.
Not a perfect play, but one that proved its importance, relevance, and enduring popularity, Kim’s Convenience’s return to London was mercifully quick to arrive, and for that anyone wanting a brisk, joyful night at the theatre should be grateful. With great comic acting, some wonderful dramatic flairs, and Ins Choi’s heartwarming approach to struggles he is all too familiar with, I’d be quite content to see the show reappear bi-annually (the twice a year kind) for many more years.
Kim’s Convenience plays at Riverside Studios until October 16th
For tickets and information visit https://riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/kims-convenience-120980/
Photos by Danny Kaan
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