When you sit down to watch this award-winning play written by Ins Choi and directed by Esther Jun, you know you’re in good company. The creation which inspired the TV comedy on CBC and Netflix debuted at the Toronto Fringe festival, where the play won the Best New Play award.
With the dialogue pacy and witty, it is easy to warm to the characters and relate to the dynamics of family life played out on the stage. The play depicts East Asian culture and its shifting dynamics, but resonates across all cultures.
The show is about the Korean Canadian Kim family who run a convenience store in Toronto. James Yi leads the cast as Appa – Korean for dad – who is proud and stubborn, and doesn’t hold back in his opinions. He is estranged from his son Jung, played by Daniel Phung.
Umma – Korean for mum – is played by Candace Leung, Whilst photographer daughter Janet is played by Caroline Donica. Andrew Gichigi plays several characters, each one as good as the last.
Mona Camille’s stage set is truly impressive depicting in detail the local corner shop with its vast array of goods crammed onto the shelves. It really made me want to walk right up onto the stage and take a look around.
The opening scenes depict Appa opening up the shop and all the rituals that he does every morning, including pouring himself a coffee with plenty of sugar!
One of the characters Andrew Gichigi plays is estate agent Mr Lee, who suggests Appa sell the convenience store, advising him he should have an “exit plan”. This gets Appa thinking, and he approaches Janet to take over the store, but she makes it clear this is not in her plans.
The play also delves into the storyline of Appa and his estranged son, Jung. Jung makes an appearance later on in the play. The scenes in the church with Umma and Jung show the close relationship she still has with her son, despite the situation at home.
During the moments Umma and Appa are on stage, they only speak in Korean, but it is clear to the audience what is being said. One observation I would make is we only seem to catch Umma fleetingly, and I would have liked to have seen her character developed further.
A heartwarming story depicting life in a changing world. If you liked the Netflix series, you’ll enjoy the stage show.
★★★
