Frances Mayli McCann and Zachary Pang have been cast as leads in the London premiere of the Korean musical You and It, which explores human and AI coexistence through a grieving widower’s story. The production runs at King’s Head Theatre from 20 August to 26 September.

The London staging of You and It brings the Korean musical to King’s Head Theatre for a run from 20 August to 26 September. The story is set in a near-future world where humans and AI live side by side, centring on Mina, a grieving widower character played by Frances Mayli McCann, with Zachary Pang cast as Gyujin. Lucy Park understudies in the production.

Originally written by Seoeun Oh and Q Lee, with Lee as original lyric writer and composer, this musical has seen previous performances in South Korea and Taiwan, as well as an English-language run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. For the London production, Ricky Allan has provided new lyrics and Yojiro Ichikawa has contributed dramaturgy and additional lyrics.

Esther Jun directs the show, with Ichikawa as associate director. Musical direction and supervision are led by Amy Hsu. The creative team also includes Bob Sterrett and Lu Herbert for set design, Herbert again for costume design, Jonathan Chan on lighting, and Adrienne Quartly handling sound design.

The production’s management and production roles are filled by Ben Dackerman and Ben Armstrong, respectively, with Eunggyu Lee as executive creative producer, Minje Lee as art director, and Gangwan Boo designing the artwork. AI technology input is overseen by Minkyoung Park, with planning and production produced by Aro Cho.

Stephen McGill, founder of MCG Productions, expressed enthusiasm about the casting of McCann and Pang, highlighting their chemistry and emotional depth as key to bringing the story to London audiences. He also noted Korean musical theatre’s growing international recognition as a context for the production.

You and It is supported by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Arts Management Service, underscoring the growing interest and investment in Korean arts on an international scale.