Russian Hall to November 15, 2026
All performances sold out *
Posted November 10, 2026
Mercifully, most of us haven’t suffered the heartache of trying to rescue a loved one from drug addiction. But this is the realm of Epigone, written by Kevin Kerr, directed by Jonathon Young for the Electric Company Theatre and presented by the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival. Sadly, Kerr knows this territory firsthand; his sister died of a drug overdose and this play is Kerr’s coming to terms with his family’s tragedy.
How do you save someone who doesn’t think they are worth saving? One who feels so much guilt and shame that they think they don’t deserve better? Or one who doesn’t even realize they need help?
As Epigone opens James (Kevin MacDonald) is trying to clear out his sister Laine’s trailer after her death – probably accidental – by a toxic mix of benzos and carfentanil. Her living quarters are a disaster: dirty laundry, pill bottles, dishes, beer cans, garbage – floor to ceiling crap. James has boxes ready: keep, recycle, dump and “to be decided”. Set designer Paula Viitanen Aldozosa must have had a heyday creating this colossal mess; there isn’t a square inch not covered in junk.
While James is trying to sort the mess out, loud-mouthed, wild-eyed Karen (Colleen Wheeler) drops in looking for the 3D printer she loaned Laine. And later Stoney (saggy jeans, boots), another trailer resident and former romantic partner of Laine, turns up. Karen is a hyped-up, former or maybe current drug user and Stoney, the trailer community Mr. Fix-It, is a reformed user-turned-beer drinker. These are good people living way out on the hand-to-mouth edge. But they loved Laine.
After Karen and Stoney leave, James’ very prim cousin Angela (Lili Beaudoin) arrives unannounced with a casserole for the “memorial” at 5pm – about which James knows absolutely nothing. No memorial has been planned. Angela, a death doula, is undeterred, however, and is determined that Laine should have a proper sendoff: a ritual to make sure Laine has a “safe passage.” Together they will build a shrine, she says, with the things Laine needs “on her journey.”
Eric Chad’s lighting shifts the action from stark, grungy realism to flashback. Costume design by Donnie Tejani gives us a glimpse of Laine’s former career as a successful fashion designer; a dozen gorgeous Classic, almost theatrically Greek-looking, white gowns are displayed. Kate DeLorme’s sound design – including the ever-present ambulance and police car sirens and the cawing of crows – puts the play squarely on the east side. Original composition is by Scott Morgan.
We feel we are right in Laine’s trailer. We think we can smell stale beer, cigarette butts, dirty dishes. We don’t see but we know what the bathroom looks and smells like. Playwright Kerr merges down and dirty contemporary reality with ancient Greek myth – going back to Sophocles’ 5th century BC Antigone. Kerr doesn’t force the parallel but Epigone definitely takes on mythic qualities.
This is harrowing material, hard to watch. Performances are so real, so raw – especially Wheeler’s – that one has to wonder how an actor comes down from it night after night. In both roles – as Karen in Act 1 and Laine in Act 2 – it’s all-out, jittery, nervous energy. Wave after wave as Laine struggles to make the wedding dress she promised to make for a relative 25 years ago, we feel like saying, “It’s okay, Laine. It’s okay. Let me help you with that.” The close confines of the Russian Hall draw you right into that trailer.
It’s hard to imagine playwright Kerr watching MacDonald – his surrogate – in performance. Kerr’s own grief finds its equivalency in MacDonald’s performance: frustrating and terrifying in the character’s inability to stop his sister’s descent into hell.
McBeath is at his seediest best as Stoney: scruffy, sort of sexy and wily on the outside; good-hearted on the inside. And Beaudoin excels in two completely different roles: the spiritual, slightly weird doula and, in the second act, the dope-crazed roommate that Laine tries desperately – and ironically – to save.
Beyond the hellish lives of those trapped in addiction and those desperate to help them, Epigone opens up considerations of the afterlife. But most of all, it’s a tale of trying to make peace with our inability to prevent tragedy once a downward spiral is set in motion. How do we accept that love is sometimes not enough? The recurring song, “Where Are You Now?” lingers on after the play ends. For those of us who have lost someone close to us, the question resonates: where are they now?
*Rush Tickets at the Door
Join the rush waitlist in person at the Russian Hall box office, starting 30 minutes before each performance. Any unclaimed seats will be released to the waitlist in sign-up order. Rush tickets can be purchased by cash or card.