Theater: “Did You Eat?” at 59 e 59

When Koreans asks “Did You Eat?”, they’re not just wondering what you had for breakfast. Rather, as playwright Zoe Kim explains, the phrase acts as an all-purpose conversation filler and/or greeting that’s roughly equivalent to “Hey how it’s going?” we often say in America.

At the beginning of “Did You Eat,” a one-hour, one-woman performance at 59 e 59, we think we’re about to see Margaret Cho 2.0. But no, this is not a LOL-funny, potty-mouthed ribbing of Kim’s Korean parents and heritage. This gentle soft-spoken woman, born in Korea but now living in America, has a serious and somewhat sad story to tell.

The fact that she was born a girl, she explains, practically doomed her from the start. Her traditional Korean mother felt she had failed by not delivering a son; her father constantly denigrated his daughter. These interactions are what Kim ironically categorizes as “the language of love”— mostly tough love (although sometimes related to food.)

Kim periodically portrays her mother speaking (and often screaming) in Korean-accented English. To add to the authenticity, much of the monologue is actually delivered in Korean; but not to worry if you don’t understand. The emotions of this very ethnic family are clear as day.

Nowadays we look back at these challenging family situations and wonder what these immigrants parents were thinking. And then we realize how lucky Zoe was to overcome such an obstacle and how courageous she is to share her story with the world. 축하해요 (Kudos.)