Published by New Jersey Stage
originally published: 05/09/2026
Rory Greenwood and Umer Khan, photo by Diego Quintanar
(LONG ISLAND, NY) -- In the Devil's Hands, Helen Banner's riveting new play will extend its run to 21 performances running between May 20 and June 14, 2026. Set in the Channel Islands in the 1940s, this intimate and immersive production will have its world premiere at the new micro theatre space Zoopraxic in Long Island City (first stop in Queens).
In the Devil’s Hands marks the inaugural production at Zoopraxic, an innovative performance venue that blends theatre, installation art, film, live music, and digital immersive media to tell stories. In the Devil’s Hands features live sound performance by composer Joshua Dumas, with Banner also serving as director.
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.
Rory Greenwood and Phoebe Lloyd, photo by Diego Quintanar
Performances take place Wednesday through Friday at 7:00pm, Saturdays at 3:00pm & 7:00pm, and Sundays at 4:00pm. Opening night is slated for Saturday, May 23 at 7:00pm. Running time: 90 minutes (no intermission). Please note, there is no matinee performance on Saturday, May 23 and no 7:00pm performance on Wednesday, May 27, Thursday, June 11, and Friday June 12. Tickets are $15 (students), $25 (LIC resident), and $30 (general admission). Tickets are available for purchase online.
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.)
Playwright Banner, who is from the Channel Islands, was inspired to write about the region while touring the theatre space and studio now known as Zoopraxic. “When I got a stage 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. 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.
Umer Khan and Rory Greenwood, photo by Diego Quintanar
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).
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.
Zoopraxic makes plays that function like installations using sound, light and 3D art design to connect with the audience’s whole body. They 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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