Ins Choi’s “Kim’s Convenience,” now at the Manoa Valley Theatre, is a sit-com about an immigrant Korean family operating a corner store in modern-day Toronto, Canada.
It arrives in the aftermath of a series of popular episodic chapters screened on Netflix, peeking in on a family involved in the daily biz of selling goods in a cornerstone store visited by a walk-in crowd. But you don’t see the usual foot traffic like on the TV show.
But clearly, the streaming has widened viewership and thus casts an immense shadow on the play. I fear some show-goers who are diehard fans will expect a lot but receive just a little. Abbreviation is the special here.
I loved the giddy pace and vibes of the TV program, and stage designer Willie Sabel has created a perfect setting dominated by shelves chockful of everyday needs, from breakfast cereal to snack-time chips, from chilled drinks to boxes of pancake mixes. And yes, instant saimin, too. Sara Ward, as prop designer, must have had a cheerful shopping mission to shop for the array of goodies to stock the shelves.
Appa (Brandon Hagio), the patriarch of the family, is an Archie Bunker sort with his own cache of racial slurs. He’s a worry wart, the sergeant of cars illegally parked in a no-parking zone we never see, and Appa also is conflicted, about his ranking now and his eminence in the future.
In comedies like this one, the verbal no-no’s trigger the loudest laughter, and Hagio is a master of put-downs. As viewers, we yearn for a volley of hisses and howls, but the show requires a bit more time than the allotted 1:45, including intermission.
The other key family member is Janet (Miki Yamamoto), a photographer at heart, whose beau is Alex (Jonathan Beck, in multiple roles), and she constantly dodges rockets from Appa about boyfriends and marriage. But she survives.
Director Reiko Ho has a way with characters, with a rhythm of cycles, but the production minimizes a couple of family regulars, including Kim’s wife, Umma (Sun Min Chun-Dayondon), and son Jung (David Tang). They share a key scene, staged on a bench, where they belt out a song of faith. Umma doesn’t have the usual confrontations as in the TV series, but Jung has a special photo to share as well as a pre-final curtain revelation of sort, comprising sentimental lore with familial love; he accepts to carry out Appa’s dream to tell his story by taking over the convenience store, not selling out to strangers or looming developers nearby. Nothing like fulfilling his dad’s wishes.
Amber Lehua Baker’s costumes are functional, every-day wear; Janine Myers’ lighting design includes a minimal but a nice high-and-low mood surprise midway in the show; and Timothy Manatam’s sound is, well, sound.
It’s a blessing to showcase the work of a Korean, to share a modest but endearing comedy about successful immigrants writing their own chapter of establishing a viable mom-and-pop enterprise….
And that’s Show Biz…
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“Kim’s Convenience
What: A comedy by Ins Choi, about an immigrant Korean family and the convenience store they own in Toronto, Canada
Where: Manoa Valley Theatre
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays; through June 8; extended shows at 7:30 p.m. May 21, 7:30 p.m. June 4, and 3 p.m. June 7.
Tickets: $24 to $47, at www.manoavalleytheatre.com and at (808) 988-6131