Kim's Convenience, UK Tour Review (2025)
Written by Hollie for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Caution: This show includes adult language and discussions of race.
If you are looking for an evening of laughs and love stories as well as some morals and life lessons thrown in, then why not join Mr Kim at his corner shop this week at Leicester’s Curve Studio Theatre?
After its popularity and fame increased as a result of being debuted on Netflix in 2018, this TV sitcom has arrived on stage this year for its UK tour. With the stage set as though the audience are in the convenience store themselves, with the obligatory lino floor, the scratchcards under the counter and toilet rolls adorning the shelves, this recent stage adaptation has been brought to life by writer Ins Choi as well as producer Adam Blanshay.
Leicester is the perfect city for this show, with its diverse and multicultural population, in which the setting and themes that are woven throughout the show were relatable for many in the audience.
As Mr Kim, played by James Yi, begins to collect the newspapers from outside, gets the cash register ready for the day and declares that the shop is open by turning on his neon sign, you can sense the pride that Mr Kim has in his family-run business.
But the time has come where Mr Kim is coming round to the fact that he would like to retire soon, and ideally, he would like to leave the business to his daughter Janet. However, Janet is a keen photographer who is interested in studying her subjects and photographing them in different poses. She dislikes helping out in the shop and does not see the shop in her future. Janet, played by Caroline Donica, and her relationship with her father is explored throughout the show and stereotypes of Koreans and their rivalry with the Japanese provide the audience with lots of laugh out loud moments.
Mr Lee, Mr Kim’s rival, provides Mr Kim with an offer he can’t really refuse, but as the family history and their dynamic develop, other problems as well as options arise as the family relationships change. Caroline and James effectively portray the father and daughter relationship throughout the production, and the portrayal of their developing relationship was my favourite theme that was explored throughout the plot.
Andrew Gichigi, who plays Mr Lee as well as Alex and many neighbourhood faces in the show, deserves an extra special mention due to his adaptability as well as the use of humour to capture the audience’s interest.
The attention to detail in the set deserves a worthy mention, and as an audience member, it was fascinating to try and spot familiar products on the shelves of the shop prior to the opening of the show. It allowed the audience to be fully immersed in the location and significance of the shop prior to the show beginning.
Due to the way the plot was portrayed and developed over time, I felt that this production did deserve a four-star rating in the end. The actors were hilarious and incredibly adaptable, and therefore I look forward to seeing what they all decide to do next.
Kim’s Convenience continues its run at Curve in Leicester until Saturday 24th May 2025 before continuing its UK tour over the coming months at Warwick Arts Centre from Tuesday 27th May 2025, the Churchill in Bromley from Tuesday 10th June and Darlington’s Hippodrome from Tuesday 24th June 2025 until it ends its run at Birmingham’s Rep Studio until Saturday 5th July 2025.
Other upcoming productions at Curve include 13 from Thursday 29th May 2025, Pig Heart Boy from Tuesday 10th June 2025 and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf from Saturday 18th October 2025.
★★★★
