How preacher’s kid Ins Choi gave up the pulpit for the stage

Preaching runs in Ins Choi’s family. While his grandfather, dad, uncle, aunt and seven cousins told stories from the pulpit, Choi ultimately chose a different stage. He studied theology in university and tried preaching, but he also trained as an actor before falling into writing. His 2011 Fringe hit, Kim’s Convenience, about a Korean Canadian family with a corner store in Toronto, led to the popular television show of the same name.

While Choi found his audience in the arts, faith is still central to his identity, inspiring his latest play, Son of a Preacherman. Following a successful opening last year, Choi turned the play into a book, which includes the script, an original introduction, and songs and poems that didn’t make it into the stage show. Now touring nationally, the play will run in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Kamloops, B.C., this fall.

You may unsubscribe from any of our newsletters at any time.

Sherlyn Assam spoke to Choi ahead of Son of a Preacherman’s literary release.

SHERLYN ASSAM: In the play, you tell the story of how your grandfather converted to Christianity as a young man in hopes of breaking a family curse. How does it feel knowing your family’s lineage of preachers started there?

INS CHOI: My family is a storytelling family. Growing up, I would always nestle up around them and it was so entertaining. The curse was a new story I hadn’t heard from the vault of our family’s myths. I loved it. It had the allure of an origin story and even a biblical story. It’s very epic. This lineage of single kids, of three generations dying by 50, and then my grandfather also being an only child — whether it was a curse or not, it’s a very colourful beginning to our family.

SA: Has your faith ever caused tension in your creative work?

IC: I feel like you write what you know. I don’t know if you can do theatre as an actor or as a writer without faith. You have to have faith that this piece you’re starting will one day finish. It takes an act of faith to send it out to theatre companies or to a director in hopes they’ll say yes. Faith, in a more general definition, is very much a part of art. When I write, I hope and I have faith that it’ll reach the audience. That is a driving force that helps me create.

My Christian faith has crept up a lot in my work. Kim’s Convenience is loosely based on the prodigal son story and has references to church, but that’s also just my culture. Son of a Preacherman is a bit more directly related to my faith, as it involves me following my dad’s footsteps to become a pastor and then choosing to become an artist. I don’t feel like I need to force my faith into my work, but I allow my work and my writing to lend, take and borrow from all aspects of my life.

SA: In the book’s introduction, you riff on Psalm 23, writing that “the Lord is still my shepherd.” Have you ever doubted your faith to the point of departure?

IC: It’s always been an up-and-down journey with my faith. Someone once said it’s like a daily resurrection. When you wake up, it’s this small rebirth every day, and when you sleep, it’s like a small death. That daily physical act, getting up and then going down — that is also my emotional or faith journey. Some days I feel very close to God. Other days it’s challenging and I don’t feel support. I’m 52 years old and I grew up in the church. I don’t know the first time I heard Psalm 23. It’s been on our family walls, on plaques, and it resonates a little deeper now.

More on Broadview:

SA: Was there a moment or turning point when you knew you were meant to do theatre?

IC: I sang a lot in the choir. I don’t have a great voice, but I have a loud voice. That’s what choir conductors loved about me. When I went to this audition, it was a new high school and I had never really done theatre before. I just sang loud because that’s what I knew. It was quiet and then the music director said, “Where have you been?” That encouragement, being seen, was something I craved — we all crave. But particularly in that moment, I felt so valued.

It was my first real play that I was ever in, and it was a great experience. That led to other things. Years later, I shared that story with the music director and how much of an impact she had on my life. And that I ended up pursuing acting and writing plays. She was just so overjoyed and she was crying. So that was a nice way to give back.

****

Sherlyn Assam is a freelance writer and editor based in Toronto.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.