Last week I attended a play at the Toronto Fringe Festival called Kim’s Convenience. The writer, actor, director of this show is Ins Choi. Recently I had the pleasure of joining a writer’s group in which Ins was the leader. Kim’s Convenience received rave reviews from critics and as a result was picked as one of the best of Fringe and will run for another 7 performances beginning this Sunday July 24 at the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts.
Kim’s Convenience is a strong piece of theatre, that’s both funny and dramatic and will be sure to move you. If you have a chance, check it out. From the press release, the play is described as a comedic story of a Korean family struggling with the future of their convenience store amidst the echoes of their bitter past. Loosely based on the prodigal son story, it’s a play about debts and reconciliation.
To learn more about the play, dates and show times, visit Kim’s Convenience or Toronto Center for the Performing Arts.
I am currently working on my upcoming Christmas production set to be performed on Dec 10, 11. I’ve got a basic structure to the story and know who all the characters are (their background, history, etc…). Creating character names is always fun (if not tedious work). I spend a lot of time with names because a character’s name represents more than what they are called but suggests what they might be about.
I will continue to brainstorm and formulate the plot and story. Once I feel confident about the themes I’m exploring, it will be time to begin the actual script. It is always a scary prospect to bring characters to life but with that comes a certain amount of freedom to just let go.
I finished typing my new screenplay Struck and now leave it aside for a couple weeks before refining it further. Walls was the title of the 24-Hour Play I wrote for the Toronto Fringe. This one-act play tells the story of a woman in a psycho ward who tries to make sense of what is real and what is imaginary as she deals with the death of loved ones close to her.
Until next time, enjoy the heat of summer.
Ditto Josie’s comments. When you talk about creating characters, I’ll never forget the time after the last performance of Coffee and Cake when we were walking past the stage area you said goodbye to the characters. It impressed me at that moment how real the characters had become. We left them there – in their own special place and time , and we went on our way.
Way to go Romeo. You have lots on the wing and great talent awaiting to astonish us all. Keep up the great work! December does not seem to be that far away. I’m sure that the play that you are currently writing will be fabulous.