Kim's Convenience (play)
Kim's Convenience is a 2011 play by Ins Choi, about a Korean-owned convenience store in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood. It debuted at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival, where Choi both directed and acted one of the parts;[1] it won the Best New Play award. The play was remounted in 2012 by Soulpepper Theatre, becoming the most commercially successful production in the company's entire history.[2] That production won two Toronto Theatre Critics awards in 2012, for Best Actor in a Play for Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Best Canadian Play.[3] It was a nominee for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play in 2012.
The script was published by House of Anansi Press in 2012,[4] and the play toured Canada from 2013 to 2016.[4] Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim also expressed interest in staging it in the United States.[4]
In March 2015, CBC Television announced that a television series based on the play, also titled Kim's Convenience, was in development.[5] The first season of the series was filmed from June to August 2016, and produced by Thunderbird Films and Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company and was broadcast in 11 half-hour episodes on CBC Television in the fall of 2016.[6][7] The series premiered on October 11, 2016.
Synopsis
Mr. Kim (Appa) owns and runs his own business, Kim’s Convenience, in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood, with his wife Mrs. Kim (Umma). Mr. Kim hopes the store will provide a future for his daughter, Janet, whom he hopes will take over the store from him when he retires; however, Janet has no interest in running the store and wishes to have a career as a photographer. Regent Park is being gentrified with new condos and developments and the potential of a Wal-Mart opening up and destroying Mr. Kim's business. Realtor Mr. Lee offers to purchase the store and property. The Kims' son, Jung, was kicked out of the house 15 years ago after he stole money from the store's safe and hasn't spoken to Appa since, though Umma maintains surreptitious contact with him by meeting him at her church and he and Janet also remain in touch. It is not until the prodigal son returns and reconciles with his father that the future of Kim's Convenience is assured.[8]
Original cast
Soulpepper production directed by Weyni Mengesha; Fringe production directed by Ins Choi.
- Appa – Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
- Umma – Jean Yoon
- Janet – Esther Jun (Fringe production)
- Janet – Grace Lynn Kung (Soulpepper production and National Tour)
- Jung – Ins Choi
- Rich, Mike, Alex, Mr. Lee – André Sills (Fringe production), Clé Bennett (Soulpepper production)
References
- ^ "Shop Talk: Can Kim's Convenience help fix TV's diversity problem?". The Walrus, Walrus Foundation, October 2016, pages 61-65 (3 page feature article)
- ^ " Kim's Convenience a treat for all Canadians". Calgary Herald, September 5, 2013.
- ^ "Kim's Convenience gets five thumbs up at Toronto Theatre Critics Awards". News.nationalpost.com. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
- ^ a b c "Kim's Convenience drawing TV interest, Ins Choi says". CBC News, July 7, 2013.
- ^ "CBC reveals new TV shows, revives Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays". The Globe and Mail, March 4, 2015.
- ^ "Production on Thunderbird's Kim's Convenience begins for CBC". Tv-eh.com. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
- ^ Nestruck, J. Kelly (3 November 2015). "Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company announces 2016 lineup". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- ^ "Citadel Theatre : Enrichment Guide" (PDF). Citadeltheatre.com. Retrieved 2016-11-20.