Kim's Convenience

Copyright © 2012 Ins Choi

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This edition published in 2012 by
House of Anansi Press Inc.
www.houseofanansi.com

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Choi, Ins, 1974– Kim’s convenience / Ins Choi.

ISBN 978-1-4870-0224-4 (epub). ISBN 978-1-4870-0225-1 (kindle).

1. Korean Canadians—Ontario—Toronto—Drama. 2. Convenience stores—Ontario—Toronto—Drama.
3. Family-owned business enterprises—Ontario—Toronto—Drama.
4. Debt—Drama. 5. Reconciliation—Drama. 6. Toronto (Ont.)—Drama. I. Title.

PS8605.H63K54 2012 C812’.6 C2012-901109-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012932693

Cover design by Erin Mallory (based on the original Soulpepper poster illustration for Kim's Convenience)
Cover illustration: Brian Rea

We acknowledge for their financial support of our publishing program the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

My father grew up in North Korea. From the time of his birth until the end of the Second World War, the country was occupied by the Japanese. Soon after the Second World War, the Korean Civil War broke out. During that time, he and his family walked south, across the mountainous Korean peninsula, with thousands of others in search of freedom. My mother grew up in an orphanage in war-torn South Korea, raising her younger brother from the age of five. After graduating from high school, she worked as a secretary for the government, at which time she met my father. They arrived in Canada in 1975 with two hundred dollars, three kids, and a lot of hope. My father worked at my uncle’s convenience store by day and went to ESL classes by night, while my mother took care of me and my two older sisters.

After a performance of Kim’s Convenience at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival, my parents came up to me, hugged me, and said, “We are very proud of you. Thank you.”

Kim’s Convenience is my love letter to my parents and to all first-generation immigrants who call Canada their home.

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.