ANTIGONE 1989: A TOWN HALL MUSICAL To Premiere At Edinburgh Fringe

When Elizabeth McKoy founded Berkeley Playhouse in 2007, she envisioned a sanctuary where young artists could evolve into bold, brave, and compassionate leaders. This summer, that vision takes a massive leap onto the world stage.

McKoy will direct and produce the world premiere of ANTIGONE 1989: A Town Hall Musical at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (August 5–29, 2026). The production is an artistic expansion of McKoy’s decades-long commitment to the Bay Area theater community, bringing together a powerhouse creative team with deep institutional ties to Berkeley Playhouse.

“I couldn’t stay silent anymore,” says McKoy. “I needed to bring together powerful theatre makers like Ken Cerniglia and Chris Rayis to tell a story about democracy set in 1989, but the reality is that it’s really about the world we’re living in now.”

A Broadway Powerhouse in the Berkeley Community. Ken Cerniglia (Book) brings elite industry prestige to the project. The Tony Award-winning dramaturg behind Hadestown and Peter and the Starcatcher is a longtime Berkeley Playhouse collaborator whose personal ties to the theater run deep, as his own children were raised in its programs.

“Theatre and democracy were born together,” says Cerniglia. “This piece asks what happens when we bring them back into the same room. Collaborating with Elizabeth and this ensemble allows us to explore those intersections with a raw, civic energy unique to the Fringe.”

A Bay Area Story at the Epicenter of Change. While the musical is set in a fictionalized “Thebes, California,” the heart of the story is rooted in the very real history of Northern California. Set in 1989, the production captures the height of the AIDS epidemic and the fierce activism that defined the region. By exploring the Bay Area’s role as the epicenter of both a global crisis and the grassroots resistance that followed, the musical highlights a pivotal era when standing up for justice was a matter of life or death.

A Legacy of Developing Talent. In addition to the high-level partnership with Cerniglia, the production serves as a showcase for the professional alumni fostered at the Julia Morgan Theater:

Tanaka Dunbar Ngwara (Assistant Director/Costume Designer): A Berkeley Playhouse alumna, Ngwara was first directed by McKoy at age eight. Now a graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music, she returns as a key creative lead.

Elliot Choate (Cast): A Playhouse alum who grew up on the Berkeley stage, Choate joins the eight-person ensemble as a rising talent in the national musical theater scene.

ANTIGONE 1989: A Town Hall Musical is a bold, contemporary retelling of Sophocles’ classic tragedy, blending live music and civic ritual. By treating the theater as a town hall, the piece invites audiences into a shared space where questions of moral courage and the cost of silence are experienced.

From Berkeley to the World Stage. For McKoy, the journey to the world’s largest performing arts festival is a milestone for the community that raised these artists. “This is coming directly out of the Bay Area community,” McKoy says. “That’s what makes it meaningful.”

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