Michelle Lim Davidson, best-known for her roles as Noelene in ‘The Newsreader’ and Amy in ‘Utopia’, makes her playwriting debut with Koreaboo, now on stage in Sydney. Drawing from her personal experiences as a Korean-Australian adoptee, Davidson has crafted a poignant, funny and sharply observed take on identity, belonging and the complexities of family.
Cultural Divide
Lim Davidson also stars as Hannah, a Korean-Australian woman who travels to Seoul to reconnect with her birth mother, Umma, played with spice and sly humour by SBS food personality, Heather Jeong. Expecting a warm reunion, Hannah instead finds her emotionally distant mother preoccupied with working full-time in her ‘mart’ and unable to even hug the daughter she gave up for adoption at birth.
The play navigates the complexities of their relationship, highlighting the challenges of bridging cultural and generational gaps. Having been inspired to write the play after her own experience of finding her Korean birth mother after years of searching, Lim Davidson says: “Reunion isn’t always what we see in films. It can be awkward. Incomplete. It doesn’t’ always bring answers. Just different questions.”
Directed by Jessica Arthur (‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’), the production features set and costume design by Mel Page, lighting by Kate Baldwin, and sound design by Brendon Boney. The creative team effectively represents Umma’s convenience store selling everything from chewing gum to garden gnomes, to Spam, and wallpaper; as well as the intimate moments between mother and daughter.
A Gifted Debut
With just two actors and a single set, ‘Koreaboo’ manages to hold the room. Lim Davidson proves herself not just a talented actor but a writer with a deft touch ¬– balancing humour, pathos and moments of piercing clarity.
“I am too Korean to be Australian; but too Australian to be Korean,” Hannah says. It’s a line that speaks volumes. This touching debut will resonate with anyone who’s ever tried to bridge the distance between who they are and where they’re from.
‘Koreaboo’
Belvoir St Theatre
Until 20 July, 2025
griffintheatre.com.au
Photography by: Brett Boardman
