“I’ve been preparing for this my whole life”: Kim’s Convenience creator Ins Choi on the show’s new theatrical production

Once upon a time, Kim’s Convenience—the smash CBC sitcom that gained a global following on Netflix and launched Simu Liu to superstardom—was a struggling stage play. It premiered at Fringe in 2011 after theatres across the city rejected playwright Ins Choi’s script. Now, almost a decade after the TV show debuted, the beloved corner store and its proprietors are returning to the stage, with Choi playing family patriarch Appa alongside a brand new cast. We caught up with him to talk about Kim’s journey from stage to screen and back, its impact on Asian representation, and why Appa is his dream role.

How did Kim’s Convenience find its way back to the stage? In early 2023, I got a call from Dennis Garnhum, then the artistic director of the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario. They wanted to program Kim’s Convenience again, and I was out of a job thanks to the writers’ strike, so I was game.

Your original run with the play was Soulpepper’s most successful ever. What was it like to receive that kind of response? I didn’t know that! I hope it’s had a positive effect on other theatre companies investing in new writers, new stories, new plays. The theatre scene has changed significantly since then. If you look at every theatre company besides Mirvish—Crow’s, Passe Muraille, Canadian Stage, Tarragon—there’s a lot of new work and diversity. I would like to think that Kim’s had a positive effect, where another artistic director sees that success and asks, “Who in our community has written a play, and can we give them a chance?” I sent Kim’s to all of the theatre companies, and they said no. Then I went to Fringe, and they said yes. It’s been an honour.

One of the central plot points of the play is the changing neighbourhood around Mr. Kim’s store. Toronto just keeps on changing—have you needed to update the script to stay current with the city’s latest transformations? The play is set in 2011. We did consider updating it, but we would have had to change so much that it wasn’t worth it. For one thing, Korean culture is so much more widespread now. Mr. Kim’s pop quiz of proud moments of Korean history would be a lot longer—and much less depressing. The inspiration for the store wasn’t actually the storefront with the sign at Queen and Sherbourne; it was Bob’s Convenience at Parliament and Dundas. It’s in front of the streetcar stop I’d go to every day to get to work. As I was writing the play, I’d look at the store and imagine what life was like inside. There was construction on the other side of the street, and although the building turned out to be a FreshCo, I imagined it as a Walmart.

There’s been talk of a corner store renaissance, and Toronto is studying zoning changes that would allow for more of them. Does the humble bodega still have a place in the city? I still go to the same fruit and veggie stand at St. Lawrence Market. The owner knows our kids. She gives them bananas every time we go. There’s that aspect of a neighbourhood bodega that you don’t get with big stores. Even if you only ever exchange pleasantries with the owner, bodegas foster a sense of community. Having a corner store where people know your order, your name or your bad habits is important. As society makes us more and more anonymous, it’s important to feel known. Somewhere in Corktown there’s a 24-hour convenience store that has no staff—it charges your credit card as you leave. Maybe that’s more convenient, but it’s a colder world.

For this new production, you’re playing the role of Appa for the first time. I played the role of Appa’s son, Jung, for the play’s first run at the Toronto Fringe Festival as well as in a few of the Soulpepper shows. But Appa was always a dream role for me, one I thought I might play when I was older—and then I got older. An actor friend of mine recently received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and was forced to stop working. I thought, I’d better do this before it’s too late. It’s been wonderful. I hadn’t realized how much I missed acting.

What’s it like stepping into that role? In an early draft of the play, there were only two actors. The idea was that I’d play Appa and Jung and another actor would play Umma and Janet. But it just didn’t work. Now I have the opportunity again, and it feels so natural. How many actors get to write and play their dream role? I have kids now, and they call me Appa. It’s like I’ve been preparing for this my whole life.

Are there any differences between the play and the TV show? The play’s the play. It hasn’t changed. What’s interesting is that, here and in the UK, where we toured, a lot of people have been surprised to discover that Kim’s was a play first. I guess that’s to be expected—there are so many plays based on movies now, like Mrs. Doubtfire and Back to the Future. There’s a more dramatic thread in the play, but the characters and humour are very recognizable to anyone who’s seen the TV show.

Do you ever feel the influence of the TV adaptation looming over you? It’s only ever been a positive thing. With Kim’s being such a recognizable title, fans of the show come to see the play and end up loving it.

You were in the UK last year. Did the show hit the same overseas? London is a big theatre town—it’s a much bigger part of the culture than it is here. The audiences that came out were noticeably made up of people of colour, which was great to see. Kim’s has the universal appeal of an immigrant story: one generation comes over, the next generation grows up in the new country and the two clash. A lot has been said about the positive impact Kim’s has had on Asian representation.

Was that something you were thinking about when you wrote it? Yes. The original script came out of Fu-GEN, a theatre company for Asian-Canadian artists. There weren’t many opportunities for us back then. After I graduated from York University, all I could get were background or stereotypical Asian roles. The idea of Fu-GEN was to make shows that could get our talents out there. Now, I’m excited to see the next generation of Asian actors. In this show, we have actors Toronto audiences haven’t met yet, and I’m thrilled to share the stage with them.

After this, what’s next for you? I’m writing a couple of plays. One is Son of a Preacher Man, which is going up in April at Vancouver’s Pacific Theatre. My dad and grandfather were preachers, so it’s drawn from some of those experiences. The show is full of songs and poetry and the struggles and joys of growing up in the church and in a Korean preacher family. I’m acting in it too—playing Appa in Kim’s has reminded me that acting is good for me.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.