A.actor Zoë Kim’s one-woman show “Have You Eaten? (밥 먹었니?)” examines love languages. It’s coming to the Boston Arts Center’s Black Box Theater from November 12-30.

“My family uses that phrase in place of other things they really need to say,” Kim told the Globe in the CHUANG Stage studio at BCA. “‘Did you eat?’ “It could mean ‘I’m sorry’, it could mean ‘I love you’, it could mean ‘I’m worried about you’, it could mean ‘I miss you’.”

In the play, Kim portrays several family members in Seoul. he took Edinburgh’s Festival Edge In 2023. The Boston production, a presentation from CHUANG Stage and Seulful Productions, makes its full-length world premiere.

“When I was writing my first draft, a playwright friend asked me: ‘If you could go back in time, what would you say to little Zoe?’” Kim said.

He said it was a story “about how we learn to love and how we love ourselves.”

Where can I find it: www.instagram.com/thezoekim

Age: Who refused to say. “Announcing an actor’s age has never helped an actor or actress I know, whether young or old.”

Originally: Seoul. He moved to Northern California at the age of 16.

Lives in::Brooklyn

make a living: Kim is a new business development manager in New York People’s Theater.

Studio: The band on the floor is a sign of natural design. The actor said he “played with movement” for a show that emphasized physical expression.

Kim said that Director Chris Yejin “is interested in the body doing something very different from what is said to create a sense of life that is not always meaningful.”

How did it start: “My grandmother raised me. I would perform for him all the time and that would be the only time he would laugh,” Kim said. “I knew that was what I wanted to do; Whatever it was that made the people I cared about feel better about themselves.”

what does he do: Stories. increase during COVID anti-asian hate It alarmed him. “As a storyteller, this made me wonder: What could I do to combat this? “It made me take a deeper dive into what stories were being told about our community, what stories were being told, what stories were being told.” Which led to the question, “Did you eat it?”

How does it work?: Kim said that the one-woman show is an “intense collaboration” with Yejin. “’Chris raised the question: ‘What if you told your own story instead of looking through the prism lens of other characters? What if you told the truth?”

What advice would he give to his younger self?: “Create a life you can love outside of your art. Have real friendships. Let there be true love in your life. Have healthy boundaries. Ensuring you stay sane and continue making your art is so important.

DID YOU EAT? (How much?)

Zoë Kim’s play. Directed by Chris Yejin. 12-30 November. Black Box Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts. Recommended price is 30 TL. www.chuangstage.org/did-you-eat

Cate McQuaid can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram @cate.mcquaid.