Venue: Belvoir St Theatre (Surry Hills NSW), Jun 14 – Jul 20, 2025
Playwright: Michelle Lim Davidson
Director: Jessica Arthur
Cast: Heather Jeong, Michelle Lim Davidson
Images by Brett Boardman
Theatre review
Hannah has flown to South Korea, hoping for a successful reunion with her birth mother. However, Soon Hee’s response falls far short of Hannah’s expectations. Koreaboo by Michelle Lim Davidson explores the phenomenon of transnational and transracial adoption, from the perspective of a person caught between cultures. Sharply observed and finely nuanced, Koreaboo proves to be as insightful as it is entertaining.
Davidson plays Hannah the naïve Australian, with exceptional effervescence. Heather Jeong brings admirable authenticity, to the role of shopkeeper Soon Hee. Both performers are wonderfully comedic, demonstrating excellent timing along with a persuasive chemistry. Directed by Jessica Arthur, the presentation is compulsively engaging at every moment, memorable for its sparkling humour. Scenes of poignancy could be provided more gravity, but they remain effective, in this story about unconventional kinship.
Production design by Mel Page accomplishes an extraordinary level of naturalism, to have us connecting immediately with visual cues that convey all we need to know, about these people and places. Lights by Kate Baldwin are commensurately accurate, in portraying a heightened ordinariness. Music by Brendon Boney offers a full-bodied expression of the playful spirit underpinning Koreaboo‘s humour, punctuating the show with gleeful joy throughout.
Parents are rarely, if ever, ideal beings. Admittedly some are more flawed than others, but a substantial part of any person’s maturation, involves coming to terms with disappointments around our parents’ deficiencies. Hannah longs for her mother’s love, but we discover that Soon Hee’s affections take a form quite different from what Hannah had hoped for. Like all adults, Hannah will learn eventually, that she simply has to make do.
Suzy Goes See 