Koreaboo (Griffin Theatre Company), now playing at Downstairs Belvoir is actor and playwright Michelle Lim Davidson’s story of being a Korean Australian adoptee. But as Lim Davidson states in her playwright’s notes in the program, Koreaboo is not just her story; it is the story of so many international adoptees who have found themselves growing up caught between two cultures, perhaps always grappling with the unanswered questions: ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where do I belong?’
The intimate space of the Downstairs Theatre at Belvoir is perfect for the cramped, fluorescent-lit convenience store or ‘mart’ in which most of the play’s action takes place. Hannah (Lim Davidson) arrives, straight off a flight from Sydney, at her biological mother, Umma’s, mart during a sweltering Korean summer. It’s soon revealed they’ve had contact before but this time Hannah has high expectations for her visit – she wants to finally connect with her Umma, and she desperately wants some answers to her long-held questions about her Korean family.
Umma, played delightfully by Heather Jeong, smiles sweetly, but her apparent cuteness belies a stubborn determination to avoid her past at all costs. Her life is firmly situated in the present, stacking ramen cups, fixing a pesky fridge light and tending to her colourful collection of garden gnomes. Umma would rather Hannah had never turned up on her neatly swept doorstep. And she doesn’t hesitate to take any opportunity to remind Hannah of this.
Michelle Lim Davidson is a gifted comedic actor, and in writing Koreaboo, she has wisely used comedy to portray a heartbreaking story. Rather than making her story glib, however, the humour serves to help us connect with the pathos of the situation, avoiding melodramatic cliches that other stories of reuniting with lost relatives might fall into. Initially appearing to be an odd couple, it soon becomes clear Hannah and Umma both share a love of performing.
Hannah tries to impress Umma with a rendition of her winning ‘All That Jazz’ number for the Lake Macquarie Eisteddfod 12 years category, but Umma is scathing: ‘Your mother let you wear a sequinned leotard at 12?’ Umma who is obsessed with the talent show Star Power (think Australia’s Got Talent K-style) lives out her own unfulfilled dreams through the contestants on screen. The reality show becomes a point of connection for the two: What if Hannah can revive her long-dormant stage skills and win Star Power? Would Umma finally accept her then?
K-pop culture infuses Koreaboo. Umma randomly quotes from K-pop songs and is obsessed with the eerily pretty Korean pop star, Suga. In fact, the term ‘Koreaboo’ (far from just a cute sounding name as I initially thought), is slang for a non-Korean person who is infatuated with Korean culture, especially K-pop and K-dramas. But, it’s not applied in a complimentary way. Is Hannah a ‘Koreaboo’, someone who is desperately trying to be Korean but never will be?
Derogatory term or not, Koreaboo is a delightful story that deserves to be told, but also to be seen. My hope is that more untold stories of adoptees like Michelle Lim Davidson are given a platform (or stage), rather than being ignored or conveniently brushed under the carpet. How many other cross-cultural stories do Australians have that are waiting to be told? Griffin Theatre Company has shown again that they truly are the grassroots champion of home-grown Australian theatre, giving voice to contemporary, multicultural Australian stories.
To book tickets to Koreaboo, please visit https://griffintheatre.com.au/whats-on/koreaboo/.
