Interview with Elizabeth McKoy

When timeless stories collide with defining moments in history, theatre has the power to illuminate both in entirely new ways. Antigone 1989: A Town Hall Musical reimagines Sophocles' classic tragedy against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, exploring activism, courage and the fight to be heard through an ambitious new musical. Ahead of its Edinburgh Fringe run, I sat down with Elizabeth McKoy, the show's concept creator, director and producer, to discuss the inspiration behind this bold retelling, collaborating with an acclaimed creative team, and why this ancient story still speaks so urgently to audiences today.

What first inspired you to relocate Antigone to 1989 America?

In 2025, I began to feel an aching sense of despair. I felt despair about America's politics and growing divisions. As a theatre creator, I knew I had to turn to a Greek story to find hope and direction.

At its heart, this project grew out of my belief that democracy depends on ordinary people who are willing to act. That's what led me to Antigone. Given our current political moment, it felt like the right Greek play to revisit, especially because its central action is driven by a woman.

Setting the piece in 1989 America felt both close enough and far enough away to invite audiences to reflect on the past while recognizing that we still have the power to shape the present. Antigone, then and now, asks essential questions about conscience, leadership, fear, and civic responsibility.

Setting Antigone in 1989 America reminds us that we repeat many of the same mistakes. But history also reminds us that ordinary people have the power to change what happens next.

Why was the AIDS crisis the right lens through which to tell this story?

The AIDS crisis brought into sharp focus questions about who is seen, who is ignored, and what responsibilities citizens have when institutions fail the people they're meant to serve. Those questions lie at the heart of Antigone. 

We weren't interested in using history as scenery. 

We wanted to explore a moment when ordinary people discovered the extraordinary courage required to speak out, care for one another, and insist that every life has value.

How much of Sophocles' original text remains in the DNA of the show?

Although we've created an entirely new musical, Sophocles' dramatic architecture remains our base. 

The central conflicts, moral dilemmas, and emotional journey all grow from the original play. Rather than translating the words, however, we've tried to translate the experience—asking what those same collisions between personal conscience and public authority might feel like for a contemporary audience.

What parallels do you hope audiences draw?

Rather than telling audiences what to think, I hope they leave asking themselves where they see these tensions in their own communities. 

Every generation reaches moments when remaining silent feels easier than speaking up. Antigone asks what happens when ordinary people decide silence is no longer an option.

What challenges came with balancing history and artistic licence?

Our goal wasn't documentary accuracy for its own sake. It was to honor the emotional truth of the period while creating compelling music theatre. 

It helps that we have, as writer, who is also one of the finest dramaturge for new works in the world, Ken Cerniglia , and a dramaturg Trev Turnbow to help us delve into 1989.  

We’ve had a great deal of conversations, with a commitment to making sure every creative choice serves both the story and the people whose lives inspired it.

How did the musical language of the piece develop?

Because the story is set in 1989, that musical world naturally informed the score.  We do not want to create a nostalgic jukebox experience. A great musical moves through song to tell the story and pierce at our emotions. 

Chris Rayis, the composer and lyricist, has written an amazing original score that draws on the tone and emotional landscape of the late 80’s while giving each character a distinctive musical voice.  

What attracted Ken Cerniglia to the project?

Ken has always been drawn to stories that wrestle with large civic and moral questions while remaining deeply human. 

I have known Ken for many years and when I met with Ken in December, he lit up when I pitched this project to him.  Ken loves Greek stories and history. He loves new musicals.  He grew up in California in the 1980’s and is deeply connected to the culture and pain that enveloped this time in history.  Like his show Hadestown, Fate versus choice is a central theme. Ken has created an exciting and unexpected structure for Antigone 1989 where making change is possible. Both Antigone 1989 and Hadestown ask: Can human beings change what seems inevitable?

Ken also loves working with enthusiastic and optimistic young adult professionals - our cast is all from Elon University Musical Theatre program.  They are so talented and also love working with Ken and our team.  

Was there a particular real-life story that influenced the writing?

No single real-life story became the inspiration for our show. The musical grew from many personal accounts, historical records, and conversations with people connected to that era. Ken and I both vividly remember living through that time, losing friends to Aids and struggling to make sense of the changing world of 1989.  I remember as a young person, just opening her eyes to the world and it’s impact feeling frightened that democracy was being challenged and starting to seriously question America’s leadership and priorities. 

The stories of Antigone and America’s history in 1989 had so many moral and civic parallels and that became more important than recreating any one specific event. 

How do you avoid the show becoming purely a history lesson?

The creative team and I believe that musical theatre is uniquely powerful because it reaches people emotionally before it reaches them intellectually. Songs allow us to experience a character's hopes, fears, love, and convictions in a way that dialogue alone often can't. When audiences connect emotionally with people, they naturally become invested in the larger ideas those people are wrestling with.

Hamilton is a wonderful example of this. It isn't memorable because it teaches history; it's memorable because it uses music, direct address, and exhilarating storytelling to make historical figures feel immediate and deeply human. We relate to the characters on stage.  We can experience the characters' ambitions, friendships, rivalries, and sacrifices, and history comes alive.

That's very much our goal too. Our actors speak directly to the audience, the music propels the story forward, and we hope the theatricality keeps the audience actively engaged. We're never trying to deliver a history lesson. We're inviting audiences to care about our characters Antigone, Calvin, Issa, Henry, and the people around them as they face impossible choices.

History provides the context, but the soul of our show lies in our unique, original musical. 

Why do Greek tragedies continue to resonate today?

The Greek stories endure because they refuse easy answers. Greek tragedies doesn't give us simple heroes and villains. Instead, they force us to wrestle with competing values and impossible choices. Today, we’re still asking the same questions about justice, leadership, family, responsibility, and what we owe one another. 

That's why these plays continue to feel so immediate and important. They remind us that while history changes, human nature doesn't as much as we'd like to believe.

What does bringing the show to the Fringe mean to you?

Edinburgh Fringe, it is unlike any other arts festival in the world. Its history and design give voice to so many artists that could never be heard otherwise. We felt like the most direct way to take action and get our story out into the world with our College Actors was at the Fringe. 

It's one of the few places where audiences arrive genuinely excited to discover new work and willing to engage with challenging ideas. For a new musical like ours, that's a gift.

It's both exhilarating and humbling to share our story there. We have the opportunity to invite people from many different countries and cultures into the same civic conversation, and then listen to how they respond. We can’t wait to hear what our audiences think and feel.  That’s exactly the kind of dialogue we hope this piece can spark.

If audiences take away one thing, what would you like it to be?

My hope is to awaken audiences. 

By placing a 2,500-year-old Greek tragedy alongside America in 1989, we're inviting audiences to see themselves in the story today. The specifics of history change, but the questions don't. 

As they watch, I hope they're asking themselves, We're here again... now what?

I hope people leave believing that individual actions matter. History isn't shaped only by governments or institutions. It is also shaped by ordinary citizens who choose compassion over indifference, courage over fear, and participation over resignation.

At its heart, Antigone 1989 isn't asking audiences to agree with us. It's asking them to become more awake—to recognize that every generation faces moments when ordinary people have to decide what they believe, what they're willing to risk, and what kind of society they want to help create. 

If this musical inspires even a few people to become more engaged in their communities and more willing to stand up for one another, then we've done what we set out to do.

Antigone 1989: A Town Hall Musical promises to be both a moving tribute to those who fought for change and a timely reminder that history continues to echo through the present. Mu thanks to Elizabeth McKoy for taking the time to speak with me, and we look forward to seeing how this powerful new musical resonates with Fringe audiences this summer. Antigone 1989: A Town Hall Musical plays at the Gilded Balloon: Patter House – The Other from the 5th-29th August (not 17th or 24th) at 15:05pm. More information can be found via the official Fringe website or the official Guilded Balloon website.