[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Kim’s Convenience, written by Ins Choi, directed by Weyni Mengesha, and playing at the Ahmanson Theatre through April 19.
Kim’s Convenience was a cult Netflix TV show for five seasons until its creators decided it had reached its natural end. Much to the fans’ chagrin. Several years later, they are bringing it back, and the fans are thrilled to say the least! Kim’s Convenience actually started live on stage, pre-Netflix hit, and its timely return is a welcome relief.
Kim’s Convenience is set in Toronto, Canada. Writer and star Ins Choi’s parents immigrated there and so, as he says, “This is a love letter to them.” The store is deep in a slightly dodgy part of Toronto, but things are changing fast around them. New apartment buildings are going up, old stores closing and new megastores coming in. This landscape where Kim and his wife raised two children and where he once knew all their neighbors seems destined for something else, altogether out of his control. Whether or not they are ready for it is rapidly becoming out of their control.
I looked around the lovely Ahmanson Theatre before the lights went down and the play began. What I saw surprised me. The audience could have been a cross-section of the entire population of Los Angeles. Every shade, every age, every ethnicity. A rainbow…truly. And although I was not at all familiar with the Netflix show and had no clue why this 232-seat theatre was packed to the gunnels, I could sense the joy, the anticipation and the blissful feeling of community.
But you don’t need to be a fan of the TV show or even know it exists to fall in love with every single hilarious character on stage. Appa, the father, husband and steadfast shop owner, is an ingenious mix of dry hilarity and soft old tough guy. Umma, the mother who sees all and knows all and accepts all. Janet, the rebellious daughter, so sure she doesn’t want to get stuck running a convenience store, and Jung, the estranged son who rejected his father’s unyielding opinions about life and left to try and make it on his own. There are also several other characters brilliantly played by one phenomenal actor, Brandon McKnight, who almost steals the show!
This family is much like any other, and in that, the show is a lesson for us all. We are all the same, we humans. We want the same things: security, love, family, respect and we all get those things in varying degrees. When things don’t work out the way we planned, we can cry about it, or we can try something else, and this beautifully written and brilliantly acted play is really all about that in the end. We can all change, and sometimes it becomes the absolute best thing we could ever do.
Be prepared to laugh. I don’t think I stopped laughing the entire play, except when I cried a little. The audience almost blew the roof off with laughter, in fact. The comic timing, the perfectly stoic delivery, the fundamentally sweet-natured and heart-rending story is what we all need more than anything right now. The world is busy being terrible and pulling us all in every direction, and mostly away from each other. Kim’s Convenience is the antithesis of that. The joyful and warmhearted cure to what ails us all. Please don’t miss this incredible show. Please take everyone you love with you and laugh and laugh and laugh until you wonder what else there is in life. We are blessed to have this wonderful play in our city!
When:
March 21 – April 19
Where:
The Ahmanson Theatre
135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tickets:
https://www.centertheatregroup.org/shows-tickets/ahmanson/2025-26/kim-s-convenience
The Cast
Ins Choi (Appa), Kelly Seo (Janet), Rosie Simon (Janet / Umma Understudy), Esther Chung (Umma), Ryan Jinn (Jung), Brandon McKnight (Rich, Alex, Mr. Lee, Mike), James Yi (Appa Alternate), Frank Chung (Jung Understudy), and Ngabo Nabea (Rich, Alex, Mr. Lee, Mike Understudy).
The Team
Ins Choi (Playwright), Weyni Mengesha (Director), Joanna Yu (Set Designer), Ming Wong (Costume Designer), Wen-Ling Liao (Lighting Designer), Nicole Eun-Ju Bell (Video & Projection Designer), Fan Zhang (Sound Designer & Original Music), Aaron Jan (Assistant Director), Becca Trimbur (Company Manager), David S. Franklin (Production Stage Manager), Angela Mae Bago and Michelle Blair (Assistant Stage Managers), and Cath Bates (Production Manager).