I was not familiar with this work until I saw the Leeds Playhouse website, telling me that it had spawned a tv series, so I took a sneaky peek at the show on Netflix. Rather than start at Episode 1, which I thought would just be a scene setter, I skipped to the third one where Mr Kim, the owner of the eponymous convenience store, was telling his daughter to phone the police to report a car being illegally parked, with quite a big deal being made about the marque. I gave it a few minutes and then, having got the flavour, went on to do something else.
When I settled into my seat at Leeds Playhouse where the first few minutes comprised the opening of the shop, putting me in mind of Arkwright in Open All Hours, I was surprised to find that the initial passage of dialogue was between Mr Kim, played by James Yi and his daughter and word for word what I had seen on the box.
It seems that the make of car, a Honda, was significant as Japan colonised Korea after the Russo-Japanese War as part of the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905, which Mr Kim insists was an invasion in 1904. He still bears a grudge and insists that anyone who drives a Japanese vehicle supports that country by association.
The store is situated in Toronto and, after the call to the police, on the emergency number, Kim is visited by an officer who Janet recognises as Alex, someone she used to fancy when she was a girl. When he reveals he is divorced, the two go on a date.
James Yi as Appa, Mr Kim, and Caroline Donica, Janet. Credit Casey Ford
Mr Kim also gets a visit from a man representing the agents for Walmart, who want to buy the premises to develop. He refuses, even though his wife, Umma, played by Candace Leung, would obviously like him to accept and retire. Their daughter, Janet, brilliantly acted by Caroline Donica, is pursuing a career as a photographer and has no intention of taking over the running of the store, after her brother, Jung (Daniel Phung) left home under a cloud some years earlier.
The story, a mixture of comedy and pathos, was delivered in a series of short scenes, probably why it transferred to television. Open All Hours was not the only vintage series brought to mind ‘Allo ‘Allo was another. Here though, rather than an exaggerated ‘foreign’ accent being the source of the odd laugh, the whole show revolved around the premise. A joke is hilarious the first time, amusing the second and, even the great ones, down right irritating the third, so twenty minutes in I was wishing I could repeat my initial action and go do something else. It was not only Mr Kim’s accent which was ridiculed, but also that of a customer of Afro-Caribbean descent whom the shopkeeper could/would not understand.
It was also very dated in its attitude to race and gender. The stereotypes trotted out when Mr Kim was telling Janet how to spot a potential shoplifter, were as bad as anything Alf Garnett spouted, the difference being that, in Till Death Us Do Part, the object was to highlight the absurdity of bigotry, here we seemed to be asked to regard it as being cute and lovable.
The highlight of the piece was a scene between Umma and Jung in church when they have a heart to heart and she persuades him to come home, the upshot being that the family was reconciled; Janet finding love, with Alex and Jung fulfilling his father’s dream by taking over the store, allowing Mr Kim to retire with his legacy continuing.
Mention must be given to Andrew Gichigi who played the parts of Alex, the Walmart rep and the customer. He was superb all round.
As you will have gathered, the humour was a bit on the basic side for my taste and I didn’t sense much laughter coming from the rest of the audience either, except for one chap in the row behind me who found every syllable worthy of a thunderous guffaw. That’s the thing about comedy, if it hits the spot, it hits the spot, and there is nothing you can do to suppress it – unfortunately!
Kim’s Convenience, written by Ins Choi and Directed by Esther Jun, runs at Leeds Playhouse until 15th March, after which it continues its national tour. For more information, and to book, please go to https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/event/kims-convenience/
For the rest of what Leeds Playhouse has to offer see https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on/
Sadly there are very few production photographs available. Feature image provided by Leeds Playhouse.
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