Ins Choi talks Kim’s Convenience back on stage: ‘Life is a mystery. As is art and success’

Ins Choi’s hit play Kim’s Convenience has had one of those journeys most playwrights can only dream of. The play, set in a Toronto convenience store, was first seen on stage in Canada in 2011, before being transformed into a beloved five-season series, airing between 2016 and 2021. It now returns for a new run at Riverside Studios London, after proving a bona fide hit at the Park Theatre earlier this year.

We plucked Choi’s brains to find out what the secret to the show’s success has been, as he sets up shop in Hammersmith until late October.

Back in London! How does it feel seeing the show return now for a second spell?

Feels great. I mean, when does that happen? I definitely don’t take it for granted. It’s a real blessing.

 How did London audiences respond the first time around to the piece?

They were really loud. Laughed a bunch and cried. Some audience members stayed behind and  wanted to share bits of how their story related to the play regardless of which country their parents came from. I was quite surprised at the young diverse audience the play drew and how many Canadians and Koreans are actually here in London.

What delighted you most about the initial run at the Park Theatre?

That it sold out. That people got it and enjoyed it.

Kim’s Convenience’s trajectory over the last 13 years has been stratospheric – it must be strange reflecting on its 2011 origins and where it is now?

Yeah, very strange and wonderful. Life is a mystery. As is art and success. It really is.

How have you seen the play’s significance change over the years?

I appreciate the fact that Kim’s Convenience is part of a growing movement of Asian artists getting work out there, inspiring the next generation to make their voice heard and being vehicles of change.

Stepping now into the role of Appa once again after originally playing Jung – how did that reconfigure your experience of the show?

I’m sweating way more as Appa. The role of Jung isn’t easy but it’s two scenes. Appa rarely leaves the stage. It’s interesting though, I started writing this play when I didn’t have kids. Now I have two teenagers and relate more to Appa now than to Jung.

Riverside Studios is part of a vibrant and multi-faceted London theatre eco-system – are there any shows that you’ve enjoyed recently and have been excited to perform alongside?

I intend to check out other shows at Riverside but to be honest, I’ve been pretty swamped with rehearsals and tech to do much else. But Kid Anansi: First Date looks interesting, as does, the Bitesize Festival Award-winning plays Mercurial, Performer’s Travel Guide, and That’s Why Mums Go To Switzerland. 

Is there any adaptations or changes you’ve wanted to make between the Park and Riverside runs?

Only that we’ve reconfigured the staging. At Park it was in a thrust. Here at Riverside, we’re in an end-on configuration.

Why do you think the tale works so easily in both the stage and screen form?

I don’t know. It’s a funny comedy about an immigrant family struggling to make ends meet and express their love?

Famously you’ve said how, initially, every major theatre company in Toronto turned the play down before it won all manner of awards – do you think there is still a reluctance amongst commissions for new and rising talents?

I think there’s more light shed on new talent and work created by global majority artists but there’s still a way to go. It’s still mostly tried and true, financially safe investments out there. I saw Shifters recently. Wow. Such a great play, direction, acting. It was riveting. More of that please.