Society news

Korea society brief: Singer Hong Kyung-min writes and stars in friendship play I'll Take You With Me

Dong-A Ilbo reports that singer Hong Kyung-min wrote the stage script for I'll Take You With Me, acts in the lead, and opens an October-to-January run at ET Theater One with a cast including Kim Jun-hyun.

  • korea news
  • theater
  • Hong Kyung-min
  • Seoul
  • friendship

Source: Dong-A Ilbo · 공연

What happened

According to Dong-A Ilbo, singer Hong Kyung-min will take the stage in a play he personally wrote — I’ll Take You With Me (Korean title: Neoreul Deulgo Ganda). Dong-A’s report, datelined Seoul via Newsis and published September 7, says Hong both authored the script and performs as an actor in the production.

The run is scheduled from October 9, 2026 through January 3, 2027 at ET Theater One (이티 씨어터 원) in Seoul.

The breakdown

Dong-A describes the plot as beginning with the sudden death notice of a character named Danyoung. Friends who gather at the funeral hall confront a last gift Danyoung left behind. As they wrestle with what the gift means, the story turns toward friendship and how much everyday bonds matter when someone is gone.

Hong Kyung-min is credited with the script and appears onstage in a cast that includes actors Hong Kyung-in, Shin Seung-hwan, Lim Ju-hwan, Lim Ju-eun, and Tae Hang-ho, plus comedian Kim Jun-hyun. Dong-A does not report ticket prices, runtime, or specific show times — only the venue, date span, and core premise.

For readers outside Korean entertainment circles: Hong Kyung-min is a long-running pop vocalist whose career stretches back to the late 1990s; this project marks him crossing from recorded music into author-performer theater, a lane several Korean celebrities have tested but rarely with full script credit.

Why it matters outside Korea

Seoul’s small-theater circuit is where Korea processes grief, friendship, and middle-age loss in live form — often faster and more plainly than in exported K-drama. A household-name singer writing and acting his own funeral-hall story signals that intimate stage work still pulls A-list talent even as global attention stays fixed on streaming and idol content.

For diaspora and visitor audiences, the cast mix — drama actors plus a mainstream comedian — is a familiar Korean recipe for making heavy themes approachable. The October-through-January window also overlaps peak autumn tourism and year-end holidays, when English-speaking travelers often look for indoor cultural options beyond palace tours.

What travelers and expats should watch

  • Venue and calendar: Confirm ET Theater One location and October 9 – January 3 dates before booking travel around a single night — Dong-A reports the span but not a daily schedule; matinee versus evening slots may appear only on the box office site.
  • Language barrier: The report gives no subtitle or foreign-language performance notice. Assume Korean dialogue unless the theater later announces interpretation; expat groups sometimes coordinate plot summaries for small-theater shows, but that is not part of Dong-A’s story.
  • Tone expectations: The setup — sudden bereavement, funeral gathering, mystery gift — points to emotional ensemble drama, not a concert with Hong Kyung-min singing catalog hits. Treat it as theater with a pop star’s script, not a music revue.

Context

Read this as a celebrity-authored small-theater friendship drama opening Seoul’s autumn stage season, not as a new album rollout, a TV drama adaptation, or a festival lineup announcement. The non-wire insight from Dong-A: Hong is betting that a funeral-hall gift puzzle — told by someone famous for radio-friendly ballads — can hold a multi-month ET Theater One run with a mixed actor-comedian ensemble, a format that tests whether Korean audiences will follow a singer into quiet, dialogue-driven grief rather than spectacle.

Source

Dong-A Ilbo · 공연: “홍경민, 직접 쓴 연극 무대 오른다…’너를 들고 간다’” — Korean original; plot, cast, venue, and run dates from Dong-A via Newsis; paraphrased for briefing; read the original for photos and full Korean text.