You and It – King’s Head Theatre – Theatre, Art and Film Reviews

Seoeun Oh and Q Lee’s You & It arrives at the King’s Head Theatre with an intriguing premise: in a near-future world where AI and humans coexist, can technology recreate someone we have lost?

The musical follows artist Gyujin (Zachary Pang), who loses his potter wife Mina (played by understudy Lucy Park) in a car accident. Grieving and unable to move on, he is offered the impossible; an AI recreation of Mina, complete with her appearance, memories, habits and personality.

At the beginning, Gyujin and Mina are deeply in love, eagerly imagining their future together. Following her death, however, Gyujin is forced to reconstruct their relationship through memory. Although the AI Mina is supposedly an exact replica, she soon differs from the woman he remembers. His frustration that she does not behave as the “normal Mina” would reveals one of the musical’s central ideas: it is Mina’s imperfections that made her unique.

A bowl made by the human Mina becomes an effective recurring symbol of their relationship. Its destruction during an argument between Gyujin and the AI Mina is particularly affecting. The musical continually explores contrasts between old and new, perfection and imperfection, logic and creativity, memory and reality, asking whether the past can ever truly be replicated and whether we are more than the sum of our data.

Director Esther Jun and the design team make excellent use of the intimate King’s Head stage. Bob Sterrett and Lu Herbert’s traditional South Korean house creates warmth, while Jonathan Chan’s lighting effectively distinguishes shifts between memory, time, and reality through a series of striking freeze frames Some transitions are fleeting, however, and a sequence of flashing lights around the charging AI Mina briefly suggests a horror-film aesthetic that feels out of keeping with the piece.

Q Lee’s music and lyrics serve the story well, with the opening “Our Own Little Paradise” particularly effective. However, some of the more upbeat numbers lack distinction and range, leaving a desire for greater tonal darkness.

Lucy Park grows considerably in strength throughout the performance, delivering impressive belting and high notes while making AI Mina’s emerging identity crisis increasingly convincing. Zachary Pang provides the emotional centre, portraying Gyujin with warmth, sincerity, and credibility, grounding his grief even when the writing occasionally falters.

Poignant and thoughtful, You & It is an intimate exploration of grief, memory, and human connection. As AI increasingly reshapes everyday life, its central question feels ever more urgent: what remains uniquely human when even the people we love can be recreated?

Reviewed by Nina Gardner

Three and a half stars

Playing at Kings Head Theatre until 26^th September 2026

Tickets and further information can be found following the link below

https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/you-and-it-cs41

Cast

Lucy Parks | Mina
Zachary Pang | Gyujin

Creative Team