Kim's Convenience

Riverside Studios - 18/09/24

A comforting show that is an easy watch: about an eventful day in the life of Mr Kim and his family running their convenience store. A huge story line sandwiched into 75 minutes.

Review:

Following a successful run at the Park Theatre at the start of this year 'Kim's Convenience' has made a move to Riverside studios and is running until late October! The show is what inspired the Netflix series 'Kim's Convenience', so if you love that then this is where it all began. The writer Ins Choi is centre stage playing the main man Mr Kim/Appa and is the pillar of this show. The show itself celebrates the family's pride for their Korean roots and explores their culture, along with the variety of cultures in their community. The family want to place their everlasting stamp in the area they live and make a lifelihood for their following generations to carry on for as long as possible.

The story line follows Mr Kim and how he is on an internal journey to finding a way for his store to be in the best hands. It is clear he is ageing and is not sure if he is able to run his store for much longer. He wants the store to stay in his family. This huge journey is put into the course of one working day in the store. This is interesting, because it shows how unpredictable a day is in Mr Kim's life. You learn how well he knows his customers, his role and his love for what he does. The audience also learns about Korean history too, because of Mr Kim's pride for his birth country and he brings up the history when he can. Even when it isn't related to what the characters are talking about. The next person to run the store has some big shoes to fill. His character arc is heartwarming, he is stubborn and set in his ways. However, as the show goes on he learns that he needs to accept his son and daughter for who they are and not have such detailed standards for them. The way their relationships grow throughout the piece is beautiful. However, a lot is put into 75 minutes and moments that need more exploration feel rushed.

The set is absolutely fantastic! It is a literal shop on the stage. There's so much detail, down to the fridge condensation and boxes on top of the shelves. There's even a Piñata on top of one of the shelves, reminds you of how convenience stores have the most random things. It embodies the stereotypical convenience store, the audience do not need to imagine a thing. This gives you the feel of watching binge worthy television on stage and it is refreshing to such attention to the realism of the shop setting. The items in the store are mostly American, there's Nerds, Fruit Loops, Gaterade and this detail lets the audience know that the shop is based in America.

The only negative about staging was when another set rolls on stage, which looks like pews of a church. Theres a light up cross above it. The transition consists of a complete change of dynamic of the show, where Umma breaks into religious song in Korean. Whilst it emphasises their family's roots the change in set took away the realism of the piece and reminded you that you are watching a show. This setting and moment does not feel relevant, drops the flow and energy of the piece. We had already previously established that the mother still sees her son. It then transitions into a flashback of a younger Umma and Mr Kim/Appa talking about their future plans. The scenes that are set in the present day and in the store establish the family roots and their ambitions to keep the store for their family. The set change and change in style of the piece in this section over emphasised what was already established.

Scenes in the present day in the store were the strongest of the production and the cast's portrayal of their characters was the highlight of the production. The variety of characters was eye opening. Most notably Miles Mitchell, who plays a range of characters: Alex, Rich, Mr lee and Mike. All customers/vistors to the store. The accents were strong and not too much! The differentiation between all the characters was fascinating. The jokes between his characters and Mr Kim were a little risky at times, you find yourself wondering whether you should be laughing and feeling a little uncomfortable. The energy between the two characters makes the audience entranced and you look forward to when those characters have moments together, because the comedy they create is so enjoyable. The most styalistic moments of acting is when Mr Kim/Appa and Umma are talking to eachother, they speak to eachother in Korean. These moments are astounding, because even if you know no Korean you can tell what they are talking about. This is done through their non-verbal acting. Theres a moment Umma looks at the price of the offer Mr Lee makes for Mr Kim's store; you can see she is intrigued by this and tells him to consider it. You can also tell from Mr Kim he is arguing that he is not interested and to leave it. These moments between the pair show their commitment to their characters and that their acting goes deeper than the words they say.

As a whole, this show is worth the watch, because it explores some interesting themes and the set is so original. You end up wishing the show was immersive, so you could get up and have a closer look at the stage. It's no wonder why it was made into a series, there's so many avenues the show creates that makes the audience want to know more about the family, but also to see more of what goes on in the store. Yes, I am now binge watching the series and I'm already on season 2... GO GET YOUR TICKETS!