You & It – King’s Head Theatre

Picture: Danny Kaan

You & It continues at the King’s Head Theatre, London until 26 September 2026.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

With fears rising about the existential threat posed by AI, the arrival in London of this sci-fi tinged romantic two-hander from South Korean theatre company EG Musical Company and MCG Productions couldn’t be more timely.

However, things move so fast that, following on from tours of South Korea and Taiwan and a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year, the story of a lonely widower resurrecting his dead wife in the form of an identical-looking robot with all of her memories implanted, now feels more than a little behind the curve.

A similar scenario was explored in the Black Mirror episode ‘Be Right Back’ – albeit with the genders reversed – way back in 2013 to much more dramatic effect.

However, writer Seoeun Oh and co-writer and lyricist/composer Q Lee’s musical has an engaging narrative and its two leads – Zachary Pang as the grieving Gyujin and Frances Mayli McCann as the resurrected Mina – give such committed and convincingly heartfelt performances that it manages to rise above its now slightly unoriginality.

The story is mostly sung-through and while the plentiful songs lack variety, the gently persuasive, strings-led accompaniment from the unseen four-piece band give them a delicate, emotional power. Plaintive duets ‘Our Own Little Paradise’ and ‘Those Memories Live in Our Hearts’ are the standouts, as well as a section where the couple plan and imagine their delayed second honeymoon to Paris. Ricky Allan’s translated English lyrics can be a little bit generic and on-the-nose, but there is also something refreshingly direct about their simplicity.

It is testament to the onstage presence of the central duo of Pang and McCann and Esther Jun’s precise and neat direction that the production is so absorbing despite the story’s limited locations, as the action takes place almost entirely in Gyujin and Mina’s home, with Bob Sterrett and Lu Herbert’s homely set giving the production a quaint, Studio Ghibli-like aesthetic.

The more overt sci-fi elements are used sparingly, at first, and subtly done. Mina’s distinctive glowing cube-shaped charging station and occasional robotic language – such as giving Gyujin an unbidden weather report – are the only real clue that this new incarnation is entirely synthetic. In fact, so gently humane – and human – is McCann’s performance that the times where she glitches or suddenly powers down are shockingly effective.

Adrienne Quartly’s sound and Jonathan Chan’s lighting also help to heighten these moments, as well as effectively accompanying the flickering vignettes that show the passage of time, as Gyujin and Mina’s idyllic new life starts to untangle and Gyujin’s attempts to hide what he has done become increasingly desperate, and he becomes more and more hard to sympathise with.

The set up may lack originality but it unfolds in unexpected ways. Just when you think you know exactly where it is heading, the ending takes a surprise turn as Mina becomes self aware and starts to take matters into her own hands. But although this denouement elevates the storytelling – and puts the otherwise devoted and dutiful wife back in the driving seat – some elements, like Mina’s earlier pregnancy, remain frustratingly unexplored.

So while undeniably imperfect, it is still a very human and touching tale about the lengths people will go to keep the memories of their loved ones alive.

Chris Bartlett