SETTING
Time:
Now and Late 8th Century CE
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Place:
Constantinople, New York, and anywhere else your inner eye takes you
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RUNNING TIME
approx. 60 minutes without an intermission
CAST + CREATIVE
HELEN BANNER (writer / designer / performer) 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. You can find out more about Helen’s work at www.helenbanner.com
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GRACE OBERHOFER (composer / sound designer / vocalist) is a bi-coastal artist who often tells stories about women--either real or imagined--who are not perfect, but rather, amazing. A Tacoma, WA native and a Tufts graduate, Grace works as a composer, performer, sound designer, and educator. Grace’s compositional works include the ICONS/IDOLS choral play series with Helen Banner, HOT CROSS BUNS with Julia Izumi, A DOLL’S HOUSE: A NEW OPERA, as well as the all-ages musicals DEAR RUTH with Allison Benko and THE COLOR OF THINGS with Lisa Mongillo (based on the book by Vivienne Shalom). Grace’s work has been supported by OPERA America, NYSCA, Seattle Rep, Brown/Trinity Rep, and the O’Neill, among others. She was seen on tour opening for Jack White with her pals, Geese, and behind the scenes on Madonna’s Celebration Tour. Grace is an alumna of the BMI Musical Theater workshop, the New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio, and the Seattle Opera Creation Lab, and a current member of the New George’s Jam. She is currently the resident sound designer/lecturer at Wagner College.
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ANDREA GOODMAN (sound healer / vocalist) priestess, vocalist/composer, sound-healer, mythic astrologer, poet, spiritual teacher and counselor, has been part of a groundswell of innovative women’s creative and spiritual emergence throughout her life. She was an original member of the Meredith Monk Vocal Ensemble, performing, recording and touring worldwide, 1974-1991, singing without words in the universal, timeless language of sound. Andrea’s unique vocal skill combined with intuitive improvisation developed her original sound-healing practice, Cosmic Harmony, facilitating others to sing intuitively, freely, and with healing intention. She is a co-founder, with Rev. Mother Ione and Pauline Oliveros, of the Ministry of Maåt in 1997, was ordained in 1998, and holds the title of High Priestess of the Double Maåti. She also sang the lead role in Ione and Pauline’s opera, Io and Her and the Trouble with Him.
Living on an island on the Maine coast since 1989, Andrea has founded Ruby-Throated Spirit, Sanctuary, Voice Studio and Labyrinth, where she offers teaching and counseling in person or remotely, and hosts circles, retreats, blessings and ceremonies. She also has practiced reiki, a gentle, hands-on transmission of universal healing energy, since her 2000 certification at the Master level within the Usui System of Natural Healing. In Maine, she has collaborated with Figures of Speech Theatre, performing throughout Maine and New England 1994-2018. Andrea’s recordings include Divine Doorways, with percussionist Gerry Hemingway, sounding Tarot archetypes, The Moon’s Daughter & Other Song-Stories,accompanying herself on Ukrainian bandura, and singing the role of Sappho in Songs of Sappho. Writing throughout her life, Andrea’s book, Lightning Holds My Hand, A Woman’s Journal of Guidance, published in 2008 by Ministry of Maåt Press, has been called “A beacon of guided inspiration to illuminate the dark night of the soul,” by Donna Henes. For more: www.rubythroatedspirit.com
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PRODUCTION
ALLISON PARKER (line producer) is a freelance producer with her company, A/Park Productions. With A/Park, Allison produces shows both in NYC and for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Recent NYC credits include: THE WHOLE OF TIME (The Brick), R.U.R.: ROSSUM'S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS (a reading with SCLA, Czech Center), SATURN'S CHILDREN (a reading, Torn Page) and LA MUSICA DEUXIÈME (Torn Page). Recent Edinburgh credits include: DO THIS ONE THING FOR ME (Bedlam, 2024), UNSEEN (Zoo Playground, 2024), and FUNNY GUY (Greenside George Street, 2024). Allison will be returning to the Edinburgh Fringe this August with Michelle Renee Johnson's new one-woman show, EXTRA DRY, which will first premiere in New York this April as a part of the NYC Fringe. Allison is thrilled to be presenting ZOOPRAXIC's inaugural season and kicking it off with this incredibly unique and effecting piece! Love to my boys: Stephen, Desmond and Parker the pup. www.a-parkproductions.com
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BYZANTINE CHORAL PROJECT (producer) Byzantine Choral Project is a long-running multi-media collaboration between composer-sound designer Grace Oberhofer and writer-director-designer Helen Banner. Inspired by the political turmoil of the Byzantine era and the purple Empresses they make contemporary work spanning opera, installation and audio art. They work with diverse groups of women and non-binary artists to make shows that can range from a dozen people on stage in an epic setting to highly intimate encounters with just one listener. Their work includes visual and sound art, technical experimentation and authentic emotional landscapes. You can find out more at www.byzantinechoralproject.com or listen to our Icons/Idols audio podcast on all major streaming platforms.
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SPECIAL THANKS
Nick Banner
Lee Banner
Hope Banner
Alex deNevers
Joshua Dumas
Demetrius Gooden
Elizabeth Grumer
Lauren Petty
Diego Quintanar
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