“KIM’S CONVENIENCE”: Performances are underway for “Kim’s Convenience.” Directed by Weyni Mengesha, the play runs through February 15 at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre. Above: The well-meaning but eccentric and feisty Appa (Playwright Ins Choi) is anxious to provide for his family’s future and preserve his life’s work, but that will entail mending some relationships. (Photo by Dahlia Katz)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

A central theme of the comedy Kim’s Convenience considers the need for one generation to be succeeded by the next. As such, it is rather poetic that, from a standpoint of the history of the play’s casting, the son is now the father.

When the play premiered in 2011 at the Toronto Fringe Festival, Playwright Ins Choi (in addition to directing) played the role of Jung, an employee of a rental car establishment, who is estranged from his father. Now he is portraying Mr. Kim (known to his family as “Appa”), the father, in a production that is being presented at McCarter Theatre.

Subsequent to its premiere the play was presented at Soulpepper Theatre in 2012; and off-Broadway in 2017. It has won two Toronto Theatre Critics Awards, and it was nominated for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play. The show was the basis for a television series (produced by CBC, then internationally distributed by Netflix) that ran from 2016 to 2021.

Having directed the play in 2012, Weyni Mengesha returns to helm the production that is playing at McCarter. Mengesha (with Assistant Director Aaron Jan) guides the first-rate cast and creative team through a production that serves and enhances the script’s focus on the effect that Appa’s behavior, by turns well-intentioned and problematic, has on his family.

The title of Kim’s Convenience derives from the name of a store that Appa owns and operates in a Toronto neighborhood that is becoming gentrified. Appa is a Korean immigrant whose children are Canadian-born. (In real life Choi was born in Korea but was raised and currently lives in Toronto.)

A McCarter press release notes that Choi describes the play as a “love letter to his parents and to all first-generation immigrants who call Canada their home.”

Kim’s Convenience opens with a montage of photos (by Video and Projection Designer Nicole Eun-Ju Bell) depicting Appa’s family, showing his two children at various ages. The montage dissolves into the exterior of the building that houses the store.

Sound Designer Fan Zhang (who also provides the original music) enhances the setting by juxtaposing the sound of a cash register against noises that suggest the bustle of the neighborhood. Appa wordlessly begins the action by turning on lights and stocking shelves, preparing to open the store for the day.

Audiences who are discovering the play after having seen the television series may be surprised by the play’s comparative lack of settings and supporting characters. The stage show does not have, or need, many scene changes. The store is such a crucial piece of Appa’s life and identity that it almost would do the character a disservice to move him to other settings.

This allows Joanna Yu’s eye-filling set to be elaborately detailed. (Small but conspicuous Canadian flags hang on one of the walls, lending specifically to the setting.)

Appa’s central conflict is with his long-suffering adult daughter, Janet (played by Kelly J. Seo, who successful portrays the character’s gradual but steady self-empowerment). As an aspiring photographer, Janet’s ambitions firmly move past the store.

This collides with Appa’s wishes to retire and have Janet run the shop (as the estranged Jung has been out of contact with the family for some time, and does not seem to be a viable successor). Additionally, Janet is single, and Appa tries to manage her love life (leading to one of the play’s funniest scenes).

We see that Appa cares deeply about his family’s future, but often is given to less than commendable behavior. He dials 911 over a car that is parked in a no-parking zone (not an emergency), and uses problematic stereotypes when trying to predict which customers might try to shoplift. His wish for Janet to take a leadership role in the running of the store is undermined by his micromanagement of her way of tying a trash bag.

Janet wants more appreciation for the unpaid hours she has given to helping in the operation of the store. In turn, Appa finds her ungrateful for everything that he and her mother, Umma (Esther Chung) have done to provide for the family.

Unlike the series, the stage show does not include many supporting characters. The play’s focus is on the dynamics between the family members; allowing the protagonists to have too many outside relationships would dissipate that focus.

The supporting characters that do appear all are played by Brandon McKnight, who shines in each of his four roles. In this he is aided by Ming Wong’s versatile costume design.

The supporting characters include Mr. Lee, an oily businessman who offers to purchase the store; two customers (one of whom tries to shoplift, another with whom Appa argues over the correct name for a health drink — language and cultural differences give Choi a wealth of material for dialogue); and Alex, a policeman who responds to (and reprimands Appa for) the rather trivial emergency call, and turns out to be a friend of Jung, and a romantic interest for Janet.

Choi gives a tour de force performance as the often combative Appa. His commanding (at times artfully bombastic) delivery of his lines is accompanied by movements that often are sharp and unpredictable. This is contrasted by Chung’s portrayal of the more soft-spoken, reserved Umma, whose hands often are folded together.

Yu’s set design and Wen-Ling Liao’s lighting skillfully manage the show’s one scene change: the transformation of the store into a church at which Umma and Jung (Ryan Jinn) surreptitiously meet to talk. (Limiting the number of settings to two allows us to appreciate that both places are crucial to the development of relationships between the family members.) Liao’s lighting also is lovely in a flashback sequence in which Appa and Umma discuss what to name the store.

Jinn’s performance infuses Jung with affable sincerity. The portrayal delivers the character’s dissatisfaction with his job, and concomitant openness to reconciliation with his father.

Unfortunately, the script somewhat under-develops Jung’s character, giving him considerably less stage time than Janet. When Jung and Appa later confront each other, there could be more tension; the dynamic between the two would be enhanced if we could have a greater sense of the personality conflict that drove father and son apart in the first place. (The play’s running time is only about 90 minutes, so more stage time could have been spent on developing that relationship without making the show too long.)

That said, the thematic allusion to the Parable of the Prodigal Son is deft. Mengesha’s staging of the meeting between Appa and Jung (and other confrontations) is effective in using physical distance to echo varying degrees of emotional distance.

Kim’s Convenience is a moving comedy that compellingly explores several issues while maintaining focus on its core: one immigrant’s wish to provide for his family, whom he hopes will, in turn, care for his legacy. With this story arc as its center, the play is able to have many pleasant surprises in store.

“Kim’s Convenience” will play at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre, 91 University Place, through February 15. The role of Appa will be played by James Yi for certain performances. For tickets, show times, and further information call (609) 258-2787 or visit mccarter.org.