Helen Banner’s new play begins previews May 20 at Zoopraxic, runs through June 14

 

Rory Greenwood, Phoebe Lloyd, and Umer Khan, photo by Diego Quintanar.

Helen Banner’s new play begins previews May 20 at Zoopraxic, runs through June 14

Helen Banner’s new play, “In the Devil’s Hands,” begins previews Wednesday, May 20, at Zoopraxic, a new micro-theater and immersive performance space in Long Island City. Opening night is set for Saturday, May 23, and the world premiere runs through June 14.

Set in the Channel Islands in the 1940s, “In the Devil’s Hands” is an intimate, immersive work that blends theater, installation, film, live music, and digital media. The production is Zoopraxic’s inaugural offering, introducing the venue as a compact, experimental space built for stories that surround the audience rather than sit at a distance from them.

Banner not only wrote the play; she also directed and served as the production designer. Composer Joshua Dumas performs the live sound score.

The story begins after a series of attacks in the Channel Islands. Suspicion falls on a young agricultural worker, targeted by local gossip and fear. Determined to prove his innocence, he asks a friend to row him out to a cluster of uninhabited rocks and leave him there, alone, in the middle of the sea.

Isolation has a cost. As the seasons pass, returning home becomes less certain. Each night, the performers must decide whether going back is still possible — or even worth it.

The cast features Rory Greenwood, Umer Khan, and Phoebe Lloyd, with voiceover performances by Banner and Dumas.

The creative and production team includes Dumas, sound designer and composer; Banner, production designer; Allison Parker, line producer; Alleese Eldridge, associate producer; Courtney Seyl, stage manager; and Levvy Banner, production assistant. “In the Devil’s Hands” is a New Georges-supported production.

Performances run Wednesday through Friday at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 7 p.m., and Sundays at 4 p.m. The running time is 90 minutes, with no intermission. There will be no matinee performance on Saturday, May 23, and no 7 p.m. performances on Wednesday, May 27; Thursday, June 11; or Friday, June 12.

Zoopraxic is at 11-51 44th Road in Long Island City, Queens, a short walk from the Court Square/23rd Street subway stops, served by the E, F, G, and 7 trains. The venue is at the first stop in Queens and requires climbing one flight of stairs.

Banner is a New York-based theater maker and associate artist at New Georges. She grew up in the British Channel Islands and studied at Cambridge and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned an MFA in dramatic writing and received the John Golden Playwriting Award.

She is also a co-founder of the Byzantine Choral Project with composer Grace Oberhofer, creating choral plays, immersive installations, and podcasts. Her plays include “Intelligence,” presented at New York Theatre Workshop’s Next Door Space and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and “Westphalia,” presented at Luna Stage. Her recent directing credits include Marguerite Duras’s “La Musica Deuxième” at Torn Page and “Eyes Gliding Over Me” at Zoopraxic.

Zoopraxic describes its work as performance that functions like installation, using sound, light, and three-dimensional design to engage the audience physically and emotionally. Small by design, the venue aims to create intimate, experimental experiences within Long Island City’s growing arts landscape. 

Zoopraxic is located at 11-51 44th Rd, Long Island City, NY 11101 (Subway: E/F/G/7 trains to Court Square/23rd Street - first stop in Queens - 4 minute walk from train.) 

Please note there is one flight of stairs. Tickets are $15 (students), $25 (LIC residents), and $30 (general admission).