Review: KIM'S CONVENIENCE at American Conservatory Theatre

Kim’s Convenience

By Ins Choi

Directed by Weyni Mangesha

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)

A.C.T. launches its 2025/26 season with the charming 2011 dramedy Kim’s Convenience written and performed by Ins Choi as the title character and a solid supporting cast. The initial production won two Toronto Theatre Critics awards in 2012: for Best Actor in a play and Best Canadian Play. It transferred to Canadian television in 2015 and later to Netflix where it had success as a groundbreaking portrayal of Asian culture.

The premise is simple – a convenience store owner contemplates his future and struggles with his new generation children who don’t hold his traditional values. Ins Choi is a delight as he struggles with language, his desire to see his legacy continued but falling on deaf ears, and his estranged son Jung (Ryan Jinn). His daughter Janet (Kelly Seo), a photographer by choice, doesn’t want the store, but an entrepreneur does and makes Kim a generous offer.

 The times in Kim’s Regent Park Toronto neighborhood are changing, with gentrification, new condos, and a Walmart moving in. Kim humorously muses on new concepts he barely understands like his ‘exit plan.’ Janet is horrified with Kim’s anti-Japanese sympathies and his anecdotal experience with identifying potential shoplifters that treads on racist tones. There’s a cute budding romance between Janet and an old flame (Brandon McNight) supervised comically by Kim.

Kim states more that once that the store is ‘his story.’ It defines him as many of his generation believed. When Jung reappears, unhappy with his state and with a new baby, Kim is able to put their past behind and re-bond with his struggling son. There’s a happy, satisfying denouement where Kim realizes the store is secondary – his story is family. Forgiving Kim’s cringe worthy sensibilities, the play successfully deals with multigenerational change and family healing.

Kim’s Convenience continues through October 19th. Tickets are available at the A.C.T. Box Office at 415-749-2228 or online at act-sf.org/kims.

Photo credit: Dahlia Katz