In between now and then there’s the K-music festival, the London Korean Film Festival, the London East Asia Film Festival and much more besides, but it’s nice that in the usually quiet month of January there will be something to look forward to next year. Kim’s Convenience – written by and starring Ins Choi.
Kim's Convenience, at Park Theatre
The hilarious and heartwarming award-winning comedy-drama about a family-run Korean store that inspired the Netflix hit, is a feel-good ode to generatiowns of immigrants who have made Canada the country that it is today.
Mr. Kim works hard to support his wife and children with his Toronto convenience store. As he evaluates his future, he faces both a changing neighbourhood landscape and the gap between his values and those of his Canada-born children. Written by and starring, Ins Choi.
Choi calls Kim’s Convenience his ‘love letter to his parents and to all first-generation immigrants who call Canada their home.’
Praise for the Canadian run of Kim’s Convenience:
‘Do yourself a favour and see this marvellous show’ Vancouver Sun
★★★★ ‘A cause for celebration’ Toronto Star
★★★★★ ‘As stomach-hurtingly funny as it is dramatic and moving’ NOW
‘A rich, deep and compelling comedy/drama whose themes of immigration and disrupted families continue to resonate’ Hartford Courant
Ins Choi was born in Korea but grew up and currently lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife and two children. Some of his theatre acting credits include Banana Boys, lady in the red dress (fu-GEN); Hamlet, The Odyssey, Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, All’s Well That Ends Well (Stratford Festival); Alligator Pie, Death of a Saleman (Soulpepper).
As a writer, his debut play, Kim’s Convenience, won the Best New Play award and the Patron’s Pick at the 2011 Toronto Fringe festival. It then launched Soulpepper theatre company’s 2012 season, toured across Canada, and was adapted into a tv series of the same name on the CBC and Netflix for 5 seasons. Ins was a writer, executive producer and co-creator of the tv series. He has also written a solo show called Subway Stations of the Cross, Songs Stories and Spoken Words and was part of the collective that created Alligator Pie, re(birth): ee cummings in song, Window on Toronto (Soulpepper); 2000 Candles (Brookstone).
His new play, Bad Parent, was recently produced in a rolling world premiere by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre PTE in Winnipeg, the Cultch in Vancouver, and at Soulpepper in Toronto. He’s also developing various tv and film projects.
Links:
- Buy the book or the DVD box set at Amazon
(automatically generated) Read LKL’s review of this event here.