“Kim’s Convenience” – Derby Theatre ★★★☆☆

This blog post was written for East Midlands Theatre.

Based on the Netflix comedy series, “Kim’s Convenience”, written by Ins Choi and directed by Esther Jun, tells the story of the Kim family, Korean immigrants who run a convenience store in Toronto, Canada. Whilst including plenty of laugh out loud moments, this production also features several heartfelt scenes as we delve into the characters’ backstories. It is the characters that really shine through in this play, with James Yi’s Mr Kim being incredibly likeable despite having some questionable character traits.

The poster for the play featuring James Yi as Mr Kim

The first thing to notice upon entering the theatre is the incredible set. Mona Camille’s set design truly exemplifies the small town corner shop, with various aisles filled with well-known brands. The set is packed with stuff, and immediately brings to life the world that the Kim’s inhabit – one can imagine it as a sitcom “filmed in front of a live studio audience”. The set becomes more inventive later on, as various parts shift around to transform the space into a church.

The play begins rather sedately with Mr Kim setting up for the day, cutting the prices of energy drinks whilst merrily singing to himself. Throughout the opening scenes, Andrew Gichigi appears as various customers, each sharing different comical interactions with Mr Kim. I have never seen the sitcom on which this play is based, but it is in these early scenes that one can see how the sitcom would work – each episode focused on a different customer with various different problems. Gichigi is superb in his multiple roles, and gives a good impression of the vibrant array of characters that Mr Kim comes into contact with.

James Yi as Mr Kim and Caroline Donica as Janet

There is also a lot to like about Mr Kim’s interactions with his daughter Janet (Caroline Donica), who he continually berates in increasingly funny yet tongue-in-cheek ways. Despite all this toing-and-froing, it’s clear that Mr Kim cares for her, and their final scene together brings their arc to a nice close. As Mr Kim’s wife, Candace Leung presents a more stereotypical interpretation, with her reactions heavily leaning into the sitcom aspect of the production, whilst the other characters feel a little more natural and grounded. Even so, it is testament to the actors’ ability that, whilst the conversations between Mr and Mrs Kim are entirely in Korean, it does not impede the understanding for audience members who do not speak the language – the intent behind the words remains clear.

Where the story struggles more is in its more tender, serious aspects. The play is brought together by an ongoing storyline of Kim’s estranged son Jung (Daniel Phung). The reasons for the estrangement are slowly revealed throughout the course of the play, building to a satisfying conclusion that nicely ties in several other plot points that have been cleverly set up. And yet, despite the characters being likeable, I did not feel invested enough in their story to care what happened to them. Personally, I would have preferred more scenes akin to the opening act of the play – goofy sitcom situations that introduce a multitude of interesting and hilarious characters. That’s where the play excels.

Caroline Donica as Janet and James Yi as Mr Kim

By bringing in Jung, the play also attempts to educate the audience on Korean history, although this amounts to little more than him listing historical Korean events, and feels wildly out of place as a bit of an exposition dump in the closing scene. It is refreshing to see new stories and cultures brought to British stages, but I felt like it could have been handled a little better here, and woven more cleverly into the story.

Unfortunately I am in no position to say how this compares to the original Netflix comedy series, but for those who are unfamiliar with the source material, I can safely assure you that this is no barrier to the stage production, and you will have an enjoyable evening nonetheless. At just over an hour, the script is tight and speedy, meaning you are never far from the next laugh. When “Kim’s Convenience” leans into the comedy, it truly soars, and these are the moments that you will still be laughing about on the way home.

Tom Morley, March 2025