When I saw that Kim’s Convenience, the popular Korean-Canadian TV show on Netflix which was originally a play, is back as a play again at Park Theatre, I had to see it on stage. If you have a show, event, book or film coming out that you’d like a unique review on from my perspective, please don’t hesitate to contact me for details.
Written by Ins Choi and debuting in 2011, the award-winning Kim’s Convenience (which I previously commented on here) follows the family dynamics of the Kim family who run a convenience store in the Moss Park area of Toronto. The parents, Appa (dad) and Umma (mum), still try and live and lead a traditional lifestyle in a Western country, while their children Jung and Janet have struggled to follow in their footsteps. 30-year-old Janet still lives with her parents above their small but long-standing shop, while her older brother Jung has long been mostly estranged from the family after a turbulent relationship with Appa.
In many ways, Kim’s Convenience attempts to break the stereotypical mould of the Model Minority Myth many Asians feel pigeonholed or seen as, particularly Jung and Janet. But at the same time, it still paints a stereotypical – if also, on some levels, sometimes relatable – picture of modern Asian immigrant family life, especially when it comes to Appa and Umma’s portrayal and characterisation. For example, Appa’s iron fist control he feels he needs to have over his family, pushing Janet into doing things she doesn’t want to do – whether that’s piano lessons, marrying a Korean man, taking out the trash or taking over the shop.
Kim’s Convenience is certainly an untold story that needed to be told. As a play it may have lacked some narrative, providing only a snapshot of a wider story (there wasn’t much it could tell in just 80 short minutes) – which the sitcom extended and elaborated on – but it opened up a window to the lives of this non-White family living in a multicultural city that is still predominantly White. It highlighted cultural mindsets and culture clashes but is ultimately a story about tender – both in the sense of emotional and sore spots – family ties and survival in a changing world that appears to be against you. From the potential sale of the store to the shutting down of all the Korean churches in the city, and from the difficulty in finding a job you like and excel at to the struggle of finding your purpose in life, Kim’s Convenience is in itself as a standalone play – without focusing on race and ethnicity – heartwarming and humorous.
That said, when focusing on race and ethnicity, it’s not a huge game changer in the discussion around ESEA representation, despite being one of very few theatre shows attaining to that. Granted the nearly all-Korean cast is nice to see, it begs the question about whether the accents (particularly Appa’s) – be they exaggerated or partly based on reality – still stand the test of time? Though probably completely unintentionally, about the third of the laughs not being given to the dodgy “awkwardly racist” lines by Appa, were more often than not reserved by the audience for his sometimes almost unintelligible English pronunciation. Should someone’s lack of skills in the local language be a punchline, even in comedies, and even in ones written by (and in this production’s case, acted by as Ins Choi takes on the main role) someone from that culture and with those lived experiences or frames of reference? Does it play into such ideas often perpetuated by White writers (think, for example, Mr Wu in Benidorm or Apu in The Simpsons)?
Additionally, for me, my wonderment would be whether the audience that was seemingly 90% White and in the 50+ age bracket, appreciated the significance of Kim’s Convenience, even while my own perception of that significance still craved more? Race and diversity may not be the defining aspects of Kim’s Convenience (in fact, Ins Choi himself says his main message in the play is for the audience to understand and respect family-operated stores), but in the world of theatre that rarely showcases underrepresented stories, it is one to be counted as progress in the right direction. Just perhaps don’t use the troubled sitcom as a truly representative platform.
Kim’s Convenience plays at Park Theatre until 8th February in its sold out debut international run, though whether it will return or tour is yet unknown.
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