NEWSLETTER
IN THE DEVIL’S HANDS
Performing at the New Performance Space Zoopraxic in Long Island City, May 20 – June 7
Long Island City, N.Y. - Travel back to the 1940s Channel Islands in Helen Banner’s electrifying new play In the Devil’s Hands, making its world premiere. Banner also directs and serves as production designer. Layering voices from the past and present, this intimate, immersive production features live sound performance by composer Joshua Dumas.
In the Devil's Hands runs May 20 – June 7 at the new performance space Zoopraxic in Long Island City. Each performance offers a unique experience, as the performers determine the play’s ending.
After a series of attacks in the Channel Islands in the 1940s, local gossips target a young agricultural worker. Determined to prove his innocence he gets his friend to row him out to some uninhabited rocks and leave him there in the middle of the sea. As the seasons pass it gets harder to return and each night the performers get to choose whether it’s worth returning home again.
Banner shared what inspired her to write the play:
“While I was in the middle of touring studios at what is now Zoopraxic, I happened upon this small vintage stage in a recycling centre. When I got it into the studio, it looked like a little island floating on the floor and I realized I wanted to write about the Channel Islands, where I'm from, and recreate for an audience the sense of being in the middle of the sea with an enormous sky and no escape from nature or yourself.”
She added about the new performance space:
“I wanted a tiny space to make really intimate theatre that connects all the things I am passionate about: narrative story telling, digital and immersive media, 3D studio arts, animation, film, installation art and applied theatre. In a micro-theatre you can work really closely with collaborators and craft your own process. Each thing we're making is totally unique and designed to be as immersive an experience as possible.”
The cast of In the Devil’s Hands features Rory Greenwood, Umer Khan, and Phoebe Lloyd, with voiceover performances by Helen Banner and Joshua Dumas.
The creative/production team includes Joshua Dumas (sound designer/composer), Helen Banner (production design), Allison Parker (line producer), Alleese Eldridge (associate producer), Courtney Seyl (stage manager), and Levvy Banner (production assistant).
In the Devil’s Hands runs May 20 - June 7 with performances Wednesday, May 20 at 7pm, Thursday’s through Saturday’s at 7pm, and Sunday’s at 4pm. Opening night is slated for Saturday, May 23 at 7pm. Running time: 90 minutes (no intermission).
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.) Tickets are $20 (students), $30 (LIC resident), and $35 (general admission).
BIOGRAPHIES
Helen Banner (Writer / Director / Production Designer) is a NY based theater maker and an associate artist at New Georges. She grew up in the British Channel Islands and studied at Cambridge and the Tisch School of the Arts, NYU, where she completed her MFA in Dramatic Writing and was awarded the John Golden Playwriting Award. Helen is a co-founder of the Byzantine Choral Project with composer Grace Oberhofer, which makes choral plays, immersive installations, and podcasts. Helen’s plays include Intelligence (NYTW Next Door Space and Edinburgh Fringe Festival) and Westphalia (Luna Stage). Recent directing credits include La Musica Deuxième by Marguerite Duras at Torn Page and Eyes Gliding Over Me at Zoopraxic. helenbanner.com
Joshua Dumas (Sound Designer / Composer) is a Brooklyn-based musician and new media artist exploring social and ecological justice across dance, theatre, video, broadcast, and composition. He performs in Mending with Kate Adams, solo as Tired Circuits, and hosts Bad at Goodbyes – a podcast about endangered species. Recent credits include “seapony” at Dixon Place, “Love You More” at the Tank, “You Must Wear a Hat“ at TheaterLab, “La Musica Deuxième” at Torn Page, and “Four Studies” at PS122.
Rory Greenwood (JASON) is a 2025 graduate of The Juilliard School, where his roles included Sir Toby in Twelfth Night, Alcibiades in Socrates, Gloucester in King Lear, and Death in Everybody. Most recently he has been understudying the role of George in Prince Faggot by Jordan Tannahill. Rory is from Portsmouth, England, and got his BA at University of Manchester. Favorite UK roles include Liam in Orphans and Gary in Shopping and Fucking.
Umer Khan (DILL) is a New York based actor and writer. Recent screen credits include Apple TV’s Invasion and Justin Ducharme’s feature film Seventeen (Sundance Film Lab). He is developing and will star in a fall 2026 production of Theresa Rebeck’s What We’re Up Against. Originally from the west coast, Umer trained for three years in San Francisco with Jim Jarrett, Sanford Meisner’s last teaching protégé.
Phoebe Lloyd (LYDIA) as a performer and a writer, their focus is the incubation and evolution of new work. Since graduating from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama with their BFA in acting in 2023 they have originated roles in four new plays including Helen Banner’s Westphalia. They have been on Law and Order: SVU and American Sports Story. phoebelloyd.com
Zoopraxic makes plays that function like installations using sound, light and 3D art design to connect with the audience’s whole body. We are purposefully small to create unique, intimate, experimental experiences and believe that art is a fundamental part of a healthy and happy life. Zoopraxic is excited to be a part of the vibrant and growing arts scene in LIC.
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Photo: The cast of In the Devil’s Hands Rory Greenwood, Umer Khan, and Phoebe Lloyd