Kim’s Convenience is an award-winning play, and it’s easy to see why. The show is funny, the observations acute and it has a distinct charm that makes it quite enjoyable. The plot is meh, but that hardly matters. The characters mostly take it where it needs to go.
Set in Toronto around 2011, the play revolves around Appa (Ins Choi), who has owned and run Kim’s Convenience for decades. Appa is a curmudgeonly and sometimes racist proprietor, who is not sure what to do with his store. The neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and offers are coming in for the shop. He’s not eager to sell – the place is part of him – but his daughter Janet (Kelly J. Seo) and estranged son seem unlikely to take over.
Janet helps her father when she can, but she has no desire to run a convenience store; instead she focuses on her photography. Still, at 30, she seems a little lost. The son, Jung (Ryan Jinn), has been out of the picture for years.
The story takes place almost entirely in the shop, with Appa and Janet alternately arguing and problem-solving. They have genuine affection and long-simmering differences. Meanwhile, several characters, all played expertly by Brandon McKnight walk in and initiate various forms of commerce.
Choi wrote the play and initiated the role of Jung during those early productions. He is by far the highlight. In those rare moments when he is not on stage, the show loses energy. You don’t always like him, but you understand him and appreciate his biting wit.
The problem with this type of revival is that Kim’s Convenience influenced a generation of immigrant stories. The Globe alone has produced House of India, One of the Good Ones, Under a Baseball Sky and quite a few others in recent years. The central trope – irascible older immigrant tries to communicate their suffering to the younger generation – is quite well worn. At 15, Kim’s Convenience no doubt looks less fresh than it once did.
And while the show definitely makes you laugh – sometime uproariously – it feels rushed. The play is only 78 minutes and the denouement hits quickly without hitting particularly hard. This is how they’re wrapping things up? Okay.
Ultimately, Kim’s Convenience has all the elements of a really fine show: good script, great direction and beautiful comic timing. Still, you may feel like you’ve seen this one before – you have.
