Kim's Convenience PDF

ins choi KIM'S Mr. Kim is a first-generation Korean immigrant and the proud owner of Kim's Convenience, a variety store located in the heart of downtown Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood. There, he spends his time serv­...

ins choi KIM'S Mr. Kim is a first-generation Korean immigrant and the proud owner of Kim's Convenience, a variety store located in the heart of downtown Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood. There, he spends his time serv­ CONVENIENCE ing an eclectic array of customers, catching petty thieves, and helpfully keeping the police apprised of illegally parked Japanese cars. As the neighbourhood quickly gentrifies, Mr. Kim is offered a generous sum ofrnoney to sell. But Ki1n's Convenience is n1ore than 7tJ 1 Lil 3B 11 just his livelihood - it is his legacy. As lVlr. Kim tries desperately, and hilariously, to convince his d,1ughter, Janet, to take over the store, his \vitC sneaks out to n1cct their cstrJngcd sun,.Jung, \vho has not sci:n or spoken to his fJthcr in sixtel'n ye·,trs and vvho h·as no\v become a father himself \!\lholly original, hysterical!;,: funny, and deeply rnoving, !(in-i's Conv 'nicnte tells the story of one I(orcan family struggling to face the future amidst the bitter memories of their past. FOREWORD Two years ago I had a very important conversation with Ins Choi, who had proven himself in the previous year to be a gifted actor - who was also a gifted musician, who was also a gifted poet. No one yet knew that Ins was also a playwright. He was halfway through a two-year residency as a member of the Academy at the Soulpepper Theatre Company, where I am artistic director. The conversation was about life choices, and particularly about one that Ins was not sure he could make: dedicating himself to an artistic life. Ins had been to a family funeral recently, and had had a conversation with a policeman friend who had nearly convinced Ins that the steady employment, pension, and community status of an officer of the law were just the answer to his future. For Ins, it was much more difficult to choose an artistic life than it was for others in the Academy. He arrived in this country from South Korea as a very young child, and grew up in a tight-knit Korean community with a pastor father and an extended family that did not include professional actors or poets or musicians or playwrights. I don't remember exactly what I said during our discussion, but I know the gist: You Kim's Convenience. Ins' ability to capture cadence and humour have great talent; there are so many opportunities in front of reminds us of the great Mercer family trilogy of David French. you right now; give it at least another year. Six months later I But the play that Kim's Convenience reminds me of the most was handed the first draft of Kim's Convenience. A year later is Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. Like Hansberry's I am writing a Foreword to a play that is now breaking box­ great breakthrough play, Kim's Convenience arrives as both office records at Soulpepper, where it launched our fifteenth­ an artistic triumph and a major cultural event. Ins Choi has anniversary season. opened a door through which many will follow. Ten years Kim's Convenience is an astonishing debut play. That said, from now there will be a new generation of first- and second­ there is nothing original about the form of this play (it does generation Canadians who will know, with confidence, that not stray far from the neoclassical unities of time, place, and they can make a meaningful contribution to the well-being action), and its subject matter is extremely familiar (literally). of their community without a uniform and a gun. For many W hat is remarkable about the play is that despite this familiarity, of this generation, the first step of that journey to cultural it feels so original. And it feels very Canadian. Ins has managed confidence will be through the door that Ins Choi has opened. to take the most mundane (dare I say, convenient) institution ( Cue sound of doorbell) of our daily life and show us its beating heart. For anyone who has watched this play, it will be impossible to pick up a litre Albert Schultz of milk at the corner store without wondering what story is Artistic Director unfolding behind the cash register. Every time we hear the Soulpepper Theatre Company electronic doorbell announce our departure, we will think Toronto, Ontario February 2012 about the lives we have left behind. Kim's Convenience is a textbook example of Mark Twain's maxim "Write what you know:' Ins has written from a very personal and specific place, giving us a picture of one family in one community. The magic depth to which he has taken this specificity is the same depth from which the play's universality is sprung. This play, on hearing, becomes our story about our family in our community. As a classical actor, Ins has been around great plays and he has learned from them. We feel the ghosts of Willy and Biff Loman in this play, and it is interesting to note that Ins was rehearsing and performing Death of a Salesman while writing INTRODUCTION In the late nineteenth century, Canadian missionaries began working in South Korea. They built churches, hospitals, schools, and universities, while developing close relationships with the people. In 1948, a mission-sponsored medical student named Tae-Yon Whang arrived in Canada to continue his studies. After completing his education, he decided to stay and inadvertently became the first Korean to officially immigrate to Canada. In 1965, there were seventy Korean immigrants in Canada. In 1967, the first Korean church was established at St. Luke's United Church on the corner ofSherbourne Street and Carlton Street in downtown Toronto. Originally named the Toronto Korean Church, it was renamed the Toronto Korean United Church after becoming a part of the United Church of Canada. In 1973, the Ontario Korean Businessmen's Association (OKBA) was established. The organization offered group purchasing to small businesses through its wholesale outlet, and serviced mainly Korean convenience store owners. With the Korean church and the OKBA established, Koreans could come to Toronto, make friends, gain support, purchase a store, fill the store with products, and make a pretty few theatre companies in Toronto, just to see what feedback I'd good living without ever having to learn English. Korean receive. All of them were encouraging, but none of them were convenience stores spread all over Toronto, as did the Korean interested. It was then that I realized I would have to birth this churches. In 1980, there were 20,000 Koreans in Canada, and play myself. In my research of independent theatre festivals in 2011, that number rose to 200,000. I've always considered in Toronto, I came across the New Play Contest held by the the church and the store to be the Umma and the Appa of Toronto Fringe Festival. The winner would automatically have Korean communities in Canada. his or her show in the festival, the eight-hundred-dollar entrance fee would be waived, and the title "Winner of New W hen I graduated from the acting program at York University Play Contest" would be plastered all over promotional materials. in 1998, there were few Asian actors to look up to. In fact, I entered. It won. there was a lack of roles for Asian males in plays, TV shows, Renowned theatre director Weyni Mengesha had agreed to and movies. The only roles out there were two-bit parts in direct the show, but due to scheduling conflicts, she couldn't. So three-bit movies-of-the-week, involving silent-on-camera Asian I took on the Herculean task of producing and directing the play gang members. Was this my career? There were the plays of I had written, which I was also performing in. I had no money, Rick Shiomi, Jean Yoon, Marty Chan, and M. J. Kang, which so I began raising funds through donations from friends and inspired me, but that was about it. Something needed to family, and selling ad space in the playbill. Soon after, actor and change: playwright Leon Aureus came on board as co-producer. We Then, in 2002, fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company knew that we could count on the Toronto theatre-going crowd was launched under the leadership of Nina Lee Aquino, because of the quality of the cast and because the play had won Richard Lee, David Yee, and Leon Aureus. Through fu-GEN, the New Play Contest. What would prove to be a challenge was the Asian theatre community in Toronto was being nurtured, reaching the Korean audience, which was vital to me. award-winning shows were being produced, and new plays We went to every Korean store in K-town south (Christie were being written. In 2005, Nina invited me to be part of and Bloor) and K-town north (Yonge and Finch), putting up their third playwriting unit. That was the beginning of Kim's posters and talking up the show. We sent posters with a cover Convenience. Over the next five years, I received writing grants letter to every Korean church in Toronto. We were interviewed from the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council, by all the Korean media outlets and even ran a "Win Free and was given workshop opportunities to finish this play from Tickets: Korean Trivia Contest" through our Facebook page. fu-GEN, Diaspora Dialogues, and Grace Toronto Church. It Leon posted trailers on YouTube, which a lot of the Korean was a gruelling process. I gave up many times and celebrated media picked up and ran on their programs. Later, Sojeong the work's completion on countless occasions. And although I Choi came on board and did an incredible job in helping didn't think the play was finished, in 2010, I submitted it to a us publicize the play to the Korean community. Even cast  members were tweeting, posting on Facebook, doing whatever who were interested in mounting my play. Soulpepper was they could to help the show gain exposure. That was the the best fit. Soulpepper's founder and artistic director, Albert producing side of it. That was the hard part. Schultz, wanted the play to open the company's 2012 season. The show itself proved to be the easy part. I already had Everybody was available except Andre Sills, who had to honour the cast in mind from doing workshops in the past, and they a previous contract for another show. So we auditioned all the were all willing to be in the pl ay for pretty much nothing. available amazing black actors in Toronto and arrived at Cle Actors Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jean Yoon, Esther Jun, Andre Bennett. When I was asked about a director, I immediately Sills, and I, along with stage manager Kat Chin and designer proposed Weyni. This time, her schedule was open. Ken Mackenzie, met whenever we could, rehearsing, free of On December 19, 2011, we began rehearsals for Kim's charge, in the basement of Grace Toronto Church and in the Convenience at Soulpepper Theatre Company. Weyni began sanctuary of Toronto Korean Bethel Church. Rehearsals were with a ritual: each of us would share a personal object and highly collaborative. We ate out together a lot and got to know the story of what had got us into theatre. (Those objects are each other very well. hidden in our set.) We rehearsed six days a w ek, eight hours By the time we opened, all of the advance tickets (50 percent a day, for three weeks. Every Wednesday night, we ate Korean, of the run) had been sold and there was an incredible, euphoric Ethiopian, or Jamaican cuisine, and on Saturdays Vve brought buzz surrounding the show, especially after it had been featured sweet treats to the rehearsals. The show opened at Soulpepper on the cover of NOW Magazine. People were lining up for on January 19, 2012. tickets two to three hours in advance and many were turned away. One Korean family came all the way from Parry Sound It's Thursday, February_ 2, 2012, 7:30 p.m. I'm sitting on a couch at the request of their friends, who told them to "close the in the green room at Sou/pepper Theatre. Nancy, the stage store and come see this play; it's about us:' The audience was manager, just gave us the thirty-minute call. I'm tired... I should about one-third Korean, one-third Caucasian, and one-third get ready... Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, who plays Appa in the show, every other ethnicity under the sun, young and old. All seven is sitting beside me playing some game on his iPad. Esther Jun, performances at the two-hundred-seat Bathurst Street Theatre who plays Janet, walked in and asked something about hosting had sold out. The play then went on to win the Patron's Pkk our closing night party. Jean Yoon, who plays Umma, just sat Award, selling out an additional show in three hours. It was down. Actor Cle Bennett, who plays four roles in the show, came invited to be part of the Best of Fringe Uptown Festival, where in and dropped a bunch ofsweet potato chips that he discovered it sold out an additional seven shows at the two-hundred-seat recently, and which we all love. (Everybody gets up to hug Cle. Studio Theatre at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. He just brings that out in all of us.) Natalie, the dresser, is doing It was then that I began receiving emails from commercial a crossword puzzle at the table. Kat, the assistant stage manager, producers and artistic directors of Toronto theatre companies, walked by tweeting something. Nancy is now knitting a baby blanketfor the soon-to-be-born baby of Ken Mackenzie, the set the arts have faith in God anymore. But I do and I thank God designer. Everyone has now vacated the room to get ready for for having faith in me. Enough faith to let me play... I should the show... I'm alone in this room writing on my laptop now. get ready... I've been alone in some room writing on my laptop for the past six years, dreaming of this. Chipping away at this unrelenting Ins Choi script, wrestling with these characters, laughing and weeping as Toronto, Ontario Ifind myself in the story, can't help but feel sad knowing that the February 2012 Kim's Convenience file titles on my laptop end here. In our opening week, Kim's Convenience sold out its entire thirty-eight-show run in the two-hundred-seat Michael Young Theatre. Sou/pepper is bringing the show back in May, and we plan to tour it across Canada and around the world.. honoured and humbled.As if a pack of wild rhinos trampled a path before me, knocking down all the barriers and smoothing every rocky place... I should get ready... Not many people in  KIM'S CONVENIENCE {J J L·fl _9.J CHARACTERS Kim's Convenience made its debut at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival, where it was first performed on July 6, 2011, at the APPA Bathurst Street Theatre. The play was revived in Toronto on A 59-year-old first-generation Korean-Canadian man, January 19, 2012, by the Soulpepper Theatre Company at and owner of Kim's Convenience store. the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. The original cast Speaks with a thick Korean-Canadian accent. members are: UMMA APPA Paul Sun-Hyung Lee A 56-year-old first-generation Korean-Canadian woman. UMMA Jean Yoon APPAs wife. Speaks with a thick Korean-Canadian accent. JUNG Ins Choi JANET Esther Jun JUNG A 32-year-old second-generation Korean-Canadian man. RICH, MR. LEE, Andre Sills (Fringe Festival production) APPA and UMMAS son. MIKE, and ALEX Cle Bennett (Soulpepper Theatre production) JANET Fringe Festival production directed by Ins Choi A 30-year-old second-generation Korean-Canadian woman. Soulpepper Theatre production directed by Weyni Mengesha APPA and UMMAS daughter. 3  The following characters are played by one actor: 1. Open RICH Autumn. Morning. Inside a convenience store. A young black man APPA is heard humming a medley of hymns as he MR. LEE enters from the back of the store with a pocketful of A successful black real estate agent and a friend of APPA money, a mug of coffee in hand, and scratch-and-win card trays. He puts the coffee mug on the counter, MIKE inserts the money in the cash register, and slides in A black man with a thick Jamaican accent the scratch-and-win trays. He turns on the lights, then goes to the window and flips the CLOSED sign ALEX to OPEN. He unlocks the front door. He returns to the A 32-year-old black police officer and a childhood counter, pours sugar in his coffee, and stirs. As he friend of JUNG looks out the window, he sips. He sighs. He turns on the radio and begins pricing a case of cans with a price gun. SCENE A convenience store in Toronto's Regent Park, a low- to middle-income neighbourhood made up mainly of recent immigrants. 6 1 2. I am Korean RICH: And a du Maurier Balanced, please. Early afternoon. bell. RICH enters. APPA: Large or small? APPA: Hi. RICH: Small. RICH: Hey, wassup? APPA: King size or regular? APPA: Nice day. RICH: King size. RICH: Yeah. Hook me up with a scratch-and-win card, APPA: If you don't have car, why you ask, "Which one?" please? (APPA pulls out the tray and RICH chooses a when I ask, "Is that one you car?" card.) Thanks. RICH: I don't know. Didn't know what you were talking APPA: Is that one you car? about. RICH: Sorry? APPA: Indicating the case of cans on the counter. lnsam Energy Beverage? APPA: Pointing to a car outside. Is that one you car? RICH: What? RICH: Is that one my car? APPA: It's lnsam Energy Beverage. It's new one, very good APPA: Yah. from Korea. Made from - RICH: Which one? RICH: Ginseng. APPA: White Honda in no-parking zone. Is that one you car? APPA: No, insam. RICH: No, man, I don't even have a car. RICH: No, like what it's made from, looks like ginseng. APPA: Oh. APPA: No, looks like insam. That's why it's call - 8 9  RICH: You're not hearing me. (Picking up a can.) The picture, APPA: Look same, not same thing. You look like you is right here, it's ginseng. from Kenya. APPA: No, picture is insam. RICH: I am from Kenya. I was born there. How'd you know that? RICH: Yo - forget it, it's no big deal. (Putting the can back.) APPA: I can tell. APPA: Yo, it's very big deal Look same, not same thing. 1904. You know what happen 1904? Japan attack Korea. RICH: Really? RICH: Japan attacked Korea? APPA: Yeah. Really. APPA: Yah. RICH: Yo, that is cool. RICH: In 1904? APPA: I know. I am. APPA: Yah. RICH: Why were we talking about Japan attacking Korea? RICH: Are you Japanese? APPA: Japan attack Korea 1904, make slave of Korean. I am Korean. Ginseng is Japanese name. Insam is Korean APPA: No. name. (Beat.) Look same - RICH: You look Japanese. APPA& RICH: - not same thing. APPA: No. APPA: You understand. RICH: Yo, you look like that guy in The Last Samurai. RICH: Yeah, I gotcha. Hook me up. APPA: Who, Tom Cruise? APPA: Okay. I hook up. Anything else? RICH: No, the Japanese guy. 10 11 ,  RICH: No, that's it. APPA: Janet. APPA: Tallies up the total on the cash register. $12.52. JANET: Bye Appa. RICH gives APPA a twenty. APPA: Call police. RICH: Thanks. JANET: Startled. What happened? APPA gives RICH his change. APPA: Car is no-parking zone. (Offers her the cordless phone.) Call police. APPA: Okay. See you. JANET: I gotta go. RICH remains at the counter and plays the scratch­ and-win card. He loses. APPA: Slowly dialling. Nine... one - APPA: You win? JANET: Stop being so nosy. RICH: Nah. APPA: YOU nosy! Talk to police. APPA: You choose bad one. Okay, see you. · JANET: I'm not talking to the police. RICH: Yeah, have a good one. APPA: I'm push last one. RICH exits. Bell. JANET: I don't care if you push last one. I'm not talking to the police. 3. Call police APPA: I don't care if you don't care, I'm push last one. JANET enters from the back of the store with her JANET: Mind your own business, Appa. camera bag. She goes to the side closet for her jacket and fills up on candy throughout the scene. APPA: This is my business. Talk to police. 12 13 JANET: What, it's a Toyota? JANET: I thought you guys were best friends? APPA: No. APPA: No, he is pimping the Jesus now. JANET: Mitsubishi? JANET: What? APPA: No. (Beat.) Okay, it's Honda, but still - APPA: He is pimping the Jesus. JANET: How many times do I have to tell you, Appa, JANET: He's doing what to Jesus? Japanese people aren't the only ones driving Japanese cars. APPA: Pimping. APPA: You buy Japanese, you is guilty by associationship. JANET: Peemping? JANET: What about your Canon SLR camera, made in APPA: Not peemping, pimping. Japan? JANET: Pimping. APPA: Appa get half-price. APPA: Yah. He is using church to selling Honda. Different JANET: Your money still went to Japan. church every Sunday, selling Honda. That's pimping the Jesus. APPA: Half-price, I rip off Japan. JANET: How' d you learn about a word like pimping? JANET: Still Japanese. APPA: Janet, I am cool, what you talking? APPA: I scratch name. Nobody can tell. Talk to police. JANET: Okay, what about Mr. Park? He sets up cheap sushi JANET: What about Mr. Shin? He's a salesman for Honda. restaurants in the Annex. He's promoting Japanese cuisine. He's guilty by associationship, and since APPA: Mr. Shin is Mr. Shit. you're his best friend, so are you. 15 14 APPA: No. 4. The offer JANET: Yes. LEE: Mr. Kim. APPA: No. APPA: Oh, Mr. Lee! My black friend with Korean last name! JANET: Yes. LEE: Hi Janet. APPA: No. That's different. He is pimping Japan. Pimping Japan is okay. He is make money selling Japan food, JANET: Hey, Mr. Lee. but he is Korean. White people can't tell difference. Kind oflook same. Korean Grill House, run by JANET exits. Bell. Chinese. Chinese pimping Korea. That's no good. Appa boycott. Talk to police. APPA: Long time now see. JANET: Talk to them yourself. LEE: Yeah, it's been a while. APPA: Police hear accent, they don't take serious. APPA: Wah, look at you, nice jacket, pants. Turn around. Turn around. (LEE does a flashy Michael Jackson JANET: Appa - turn.) Wah, looks very good. APPA: Janet! 1904 Japan attack Korea - LEE: You like this? I can get you one. Bell. MR. LEE, a successful real estate agent, enters. APPA: Oh, no, no thank you. Not my style. How's mommy, daddy? JANET: Okay, fine! I'll call the police. LEE: They're doing very well, thank you. APPA: ::Z. ! 6)-6]-l-\] %! [That's right!] APPA: And how's you business? JANET takes out her cellphone. LEE: Business is good. Business is very good. (Beat. 11 16  Gazing out the window.) Lotta condos going up in LEE: You're back on the same - just - I'm serious, the area, eh, Mr. Kim? Mr. Kim! (LEE grabs APPA's hands, showing him the back of the card.) There. See? APPA: Yah, very fast. They is working hard. APPA: No, I can't see. Light is no good here. (APPA goes LEE: Did you hear about Walmart? back behind the counter.) What is? APPA: Walmart? What's Walmart? LEE: That's my offer for your store, Mr. Kim. LEE: Apparently once those condos are up and ready, APPA: Offer? Walmart's moving in. LEE: Mr. Kim, I want to purchase your store. APPA: Why Walmart wants to moving to Regent Park? APPA: You want to buy my store? LEE: 'Cuz once those condos are up and ready, Regent Park isn't gonna be Regent Park anymore. (LEE hands LEE: Yes, I want to buy your store for that amount. APPA his card.) Here. APPA: Oh, Mr. Lee, this is lots of money. APPA: I already have you card. LEE: I wouldn't dare insult you with anything less. LEE: This is a new one. Flip it over. Beat. APPA: What flip? APPA: This is very generous, Mr. Lee, but, no. This LEE: The card. Flip the card over, Mr. Kim. (APPA turns community need me. Even ifWalmart moving in, the card upside down.) That's not a flip, that's a turn. people in neighbourhood need this store. APPA: Oh, flip, okay. LEE: I understand that, Mr. Kim, but once Walmart moves in, I'm sorry to say, but that's it. No one can APPA flips the card over twice. compete with that kinda buying power. Dufferin Mall, Jane and St. Clair - 19 18 APPA: Mr. Lee, my answer is no! Thank you. Bell. LEE exits. APPA takes out a printing calculator and adds up some figures. He tears off the receipt and APPA offers the card. LEE takes the card and resolves looks at it close up. It's impressive. He puts LEE's card to leave. on the cash register and begins making a list of things to pick up at the wholesaler. LEE: Mr. Kim, do you have an exit plan? APPA: Exit plan? 5. I am serious LEE: What's your exit plan, Mr. Kim? What's your exit plan JANET is in the side closet looking for her Day-timer. from this life? You plan on working at the store 'til you die? That's not a good exit plan. You've had a rough APPA: Janet?. life, especially with your son. Don't think for a minute that I don't remember the kind of trouble Jung put you JANET: What? through. Now if Jung were here, he'd take over the store. But he's not here and he's not coming back. APPA: Did you call police? (Offering his card.) This is your only opportunity to enjoy life a little, Mr. Kim, before there's only a little JANET: Yeah. life left to enjoy. (APPA doesn't take the card. LEE puts it on the counter.) Well, think it over. Give me a call APPA: Good. Now, call police again and cancel order. tonight. I gotta go. I'm parked in a no-parking zone. JANET: What? Bell. JANET enters. APPA: Cancel order, we don't need. JANET: Appa, did you see my Day-timer? JANET: Forget it. You cancel the order. APPA: Mr. Lee! (JANET puts her bags on the counter and rushes into the side closet.) White Honda is you car? APPA: I am serious, Janet. LEE: Yeah. Mr. Shin gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. JANET: Seriously? Give me a call. 21 20 APPA: Yah, seriously. JANET: Seriously?. JANET: No kidding? APPA: Seriously!! APPA: No kidding. UMMA enters with her jacket on, carrying her purse and a covered tray offood. JANET: You serious? UMMA: To APPA. ::J. ii o}ol¥l%!! [Will you two quit it!!] APPA: Yah, I am serious. JANET, with a mischievous smile, exits to the back of JANET: No foolin'? the store. APPA: Who is fooling? APPA restocks the gum shelf as UMMA puts the tray of food behind the counter. JANET: You. APPA: No. What you talking? 6. I'm going JANET: I'm talking serious. uMMA: 1-]17} olrtj-7} 9\-J-1.c