Ins Choi and Esther Chung (Photo by Dahlia Katz)
Reviewed by Isadora Swann
Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego
Through June 14
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Brandon McKnight, Ins Choi, and Kelly Seo (Photo by Dahlia Katz)
Step into your neighborhood convenience store stocked with Pringles, beef jerky, and an aging owner whose namesake and legacy is threatened by gentrified condos rising around him. Fortunately, Mr. Kim has no plan for being bought out. He has a set way of doing things: He makes his coffee, takes out the garbage, identifies shoplifters, and runs both his life and business. And when his 30-year-old daughter (Kelly J. Seo) and estranged son (Ryan Jinn) challenge his ways, what unfolds is a hilarious, intimate, and loving portrait of a family.
Ins Choi, who stars as Appa (Mr. Kim), began developing the play in 2002 and premiered it at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival. Many awards and a television series later, the production arrives at the Old Globe where it runs through June 14.
The set is a wonderfully realistic model of a neighborhood convenience store: fluorescent lights, a soft drink cooler, and a yellowing checkout counter awaiting many purchases. The stellar cast makes every character feel familiar; landing every joke and moment of tension with equal levity and sincerity. A charming Brandon McKnight plays a revolving door of neighborhood characters, distinguished by both accents and thoughtful costuming by Ming Wong.
In a touching and nostalgic moment, Mrs. Kim (Esther Chung) transports the audience with a beautiful vocal performance reminiscent of choral hymns — perhaps a nod to Ins Choi’s father, who was a pastor at a Korean church. Church, he claimed in an interview printed in the program, was his first theatrical experience: “Someone on stage, speaking to an audience and making the audience laugh, think deep thoughts… making the audience feel we are a part of a community.” Kim’s Convenience certainly does this also, artfully woven as it is with Korean history and language that invite audiences into the immigrant experience with comedy and warmth.
At its core, the play is a story about culture and family. We watch Mr. Kim struggle with his impending retirement while demanding that his daughter, Janet, take over the store instead of pursuing her career as a photographer. “Didn’t you do what you had to do so that I don’t have to do what you had to do, but so that I can do what I want to do?” she questions. “What?!” he replies, confused both by her words and her unwillingness to continue the family legacy.
Mr. Kim has worked hard every day to make a living for his family, yet he finds himself disconnected from them. Too caught up in routine and history, he misses his daughter’s need for connection entirely — forcing her to call the police on a Honda parked illegally outside his store (Hondas are Japanese, after all!) rather than acknowledging that she has somewhere else to be and something else to do other than complying with his demands. Instead of caring for his wife, who quietly grieves the loss of their estranged son, he rattles off dates of historical events. The women around him are not living in 1910 — they are living now, in the mess and tenderness of the life they share with him. And yet what Kim’s Convenience does so beautifully is refuse to villainize him, instead painting him as hilariously stubborn and unfailingly dedicated to those he loves. Throughout the show, he grows to understand that legacy is not a store or a history lesson; it is the people standing beside you, waiting to be seen.
Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego’s Balboa Park (1363 Old Globe Way). Check website for schedule; thru June 14. https://www.theoldglobe.org/kimsconvenience Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission
