Saturday, 8 February 2025

"Kim's Convenience", Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, ON

Gord and I saw Kim’s Convenience this afternoon at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in the Distillery District.


The play that started it all – Kim’s Convenience returns to the stage where it all began and reunites celebrated playwright Ins Choi with its original director, Weyni Mengesha. The most successful Canadian play of the last decade, Kim’s Convenience immediately resonated with Torontonians, becoming the most popular show in Soulpepper’s history. After leaving the Soulpepper stage Kim’s Convenience went on to become an internationally successful TV show on CBC and Netflix, and now makes its triumphant return home. 

Mr. Kim is a first-generation Korean immigrant, a father of two, and the proud proprietor of Kim’s Convenience for the past 30 years. After building his empire from nothing, the stubborn Mr. Kim grapples with his changing Toronto neighbourhood, and the growing chasm between him and his second-generation children. In this heartwarming and hilarious story, audiences follow the Kim family as they tackle their challenging past and look to face an unknown future. Playwright Ins Choi, who will also star in the production as the title character, calls the play his ‘love letter to his parents and to all first-generation immigrants who call Canada their home’.

Gord and I

It was really good. All five actors did a fabulous job. The characters of Appa and Janet are the larger parts and the actors playing them (Ins Choi and Kelly Seo) were excellent. The play premiered at the Fringe Festival (I'm a volunteer) in 2011 and was made into a TV show (which I never watched but Gord did).

1 comment:

Teresa said...

It was a cute show. Too bad it ended so quickly.