Kim’s Convenience| Northern Stage
Invited| Review by Stephen Stokoe
1st May 2025
It was a delight to be back at Northern Stage this evening. It is a vibrant arts venue in the heart of Newcastle and its historic university even more so with no fewer than three events happening this evening alone. There is always a warm welcome from the staff at Northern Stage which makes it all the more delightful to visit.
This evening I was there to see Kim’s Convenience, an award winning play written by Ins Choi which inspired a situation comedy on the streaming service Netflix and spanned five series. At this juncture I must hold up my hands and admit that I have not seen even one second of the TV inspired show of the same name but that can be more of a help than a hindrance as I am looking at it through new eyes.
As the audience take their seats they are greeted by the interior of a familiar convenience store complete with all the items you may expect to find there – such as produce, a counter, a till, a mysterious passageway leading where no customer may tread, etc. That this particular store is located in Toronto, Canada does not diminish the familiarity of the layout for us Brits here in blighty aside from some variations in the names of the cereals and the many different varieties of snack peanuts.
‘Uppa’ Mr Kim (James Li) shuffles round the stage at the start in a wonderful display of physical acting as he opens up the store and reprises his role as the patriarch and proprietor of the eponymous outlet. Some time is spent on this seemingly simple task but it is a deft piece of direction which really sets the scene for what follows.
The story, as the author himself says, is ‘A love letter to … first generation immigrants who now call Canada their home’ and he can be justly proud as the script is sharp and witty, it does not hold back on some old-fashioned values displayed by the older characters, and does not sugar coat opinions that can feel a little close to the knuckle in these modern times and culture. This play, I suggest, is all the better, and all the funnier for it.
Mr Kim is feeling his age and when he is offered a reasonable amount of money to sell up then he is clearly tempted by it before refusing and stoically telling Mr Lee (the black man with the Korean name) that he is not interested. He is more keen to leave ‘his story behind him.’ This play drills down on what that actually means particularly for Mr Kim himself.
A lot of his story has already been told before the period in which this play is set. As an audience we are drawn in and the mists are cleared by his relationship with his daughter, Janet (Caroline Donica – also reprising her role from the Netflix hit) his wife ‘Umma’ (Candace Leung) and latterly his estranged son, Jung (Daniel Phung.)
This play is littered with laugh out loud moments as the stubborn but loveable shopkeep grapples with his own mortality and advancing years, the ever changing landscape of business around him and the culturally diverse characters who frequent his shop. Peppered throughout this one act play are some delightful moments of poignancy and realisation and the odd devastating shift of pace which jolts the observer to consider the deeper elements of the narrative.
Set predominantly in the store itself there is a scene where the stage transforms into the interior of a Korean church where Umma and her estranged son meet from time to time. This is one of those moments where some of the pain in the story is most keenly felt as generational hope and dreams collide with harsh reality. This was one of a number of occasions when I may have ‘got something in my eye’ as this beautifully crafted story played out. While the laughs come thick and fast, there is a melancholy about the story that is keenly felt by the characters and in turn me as an audience member.
There is also a blossoming love story as daughter Janet is reunited with her girlhood crush, Alex (Andrew Gichigi) and the scene with Mr Kim coming to terms with this is almost farcical but absolutely hilarious.
Every actor plays their parts superbly but Leung really shone out for me capturing the world weary, hard put upon and maternally wise matriarch perfectly. There are some conversations between Uppa and Umma which are conducted entirely in Korean but I defy anyone in the audience to not understand almost to the word what was being said. Ingenious theatre!
Kim’s Convenience plays at Stage One of Northern Stage until 3rdMay and I cannot recommend it enough. I enjoyed this play so much, I will be firing up the firestick at home and hunting out the series this weekend.