<![CDATA[Micro-theatrical]]>0a362f63-2950-5937-a6ec-7e1d33cb654dFri, 13 Nov 2026 13:00:00 +0000Captivate.fmZoopraxic Studioshttps://artwork.captivate.fm/cf0465de-8839-4933-997a-09c8d0b00a85/mic-cover-sm.jpgMicro-theatricalZoopraxic StudiosZoopraxic StudiosWhat happens when theatre gets intentionally smaller, scrappier, and closer to its audience? Micro-theatrical explores the artists and ideas fueling performance in intimate, unconventional spaces—from apartment theaters and art lofts to DIY street screenings, tiny venues, and virtual worlds. Micro-theatrical is hosted by Helen Banner, a director, playwright, multimedia and spatial-installation artist, and the Creative Director of Zoopraxic in Long Island City, Queens, New York. Each episode features conversations with artists, makers, thinkers, and technicians working with scale, proximity, and constraint as creative material, not compromise. Alongside practical, behind-the-scenes perspectives, Micro-theatrical draws on performance history, criticism, and research to ask how limited space and resources can produce new forms of attention, invention, and encounter. New episodes release on the second Thursday of every month, join us in exploring the scrappy, inventive world of micro-theatrical art, and discover how expansive theatre can become when it gets small.https://www.zoopraxic.com/micro-theatrical-podcastfalseepisodicb030fe40-cbc6-11f1-9ba6-77ddab4c626cnopodcastOn Radical Hospitality with Tony Torn from Torn PageOn Radical Hospitality with Tony Torn from Torn PageIn this episode of Micro-theatrical we interview downtown legend, actor, director and curator, Tony Torn who lives with his family in a Chelsea, New York townhouse that also houses the micro-theater Torn Page. Tony shares the history of the house which was first purchased by his parents, the actors Geraldine Page and Rip Torn, and sets out his belief in building community, his mantra of radical hospitality, and how Torn Page builds work with other micro-theaters in the city. Host Helen Banner then takes a deeper dive into the exacting ethical standard of radical hospitality and asks how it can help a theatre question its own habits. Before saying goodbye, Helen shares some great micro-theatre happening in New York in November and December 2026.

  • (01:37) Welcoming Tony Torn
  • (03:26) On the Origins of Torn Page
  • (08:02) Tony’s thoughts on Radical Hospitality
  • (11:01) On Running a Theater in One’s Home
  • (14:58) Choosing New Work for Torn Page
  • (20:07) Recreating Torn Page at The Brick
  • (24:16) On Wearing Curator, Producer, Actor, and Director Hats
  • (27:39) On the Future and Sustainability of Torn Page
  • (30:43) Helen's Discourse on Radical Hospitality
  • (37:37) Upcoming Productions

About Tony Torn:

Tony Torn is an actor and director based in New York. His more than 100 stage and screen credits include "Ubu" in Ubu Sings Ubu (also adapted and co-directed), "Paul Swan" in Paul Swan is Dead and Gone at Torn Page, "Cyclops/Mother" in Suzan-Lori Parks' Venus at The Signature Theater, "Rusty Trawler" in Breakfast at Tiffany's on Broadway, "Falstaff", "Panderus" and "Caliban" in Oregon Shakespeare Company’s Play On! series, "Lear/Oswald" in Karin Coonrod’s experimental staging of Shakespeare’s King Lear at La Mama, and "JG Conwell Senior" as a member of the original cast of in the immersive show Life and Trust. He has performed in multiple shows with legendary experimental theater artists Richard Foreman and Reza Abdoh. He was a founding director of Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping, and his recent staging of Romina Paula's The Whole of Time was described as "beautifully directed" in The New Yorker. He recently appeared as "The Toymaster" on NBC’s hit series The Blacklist, "Sister Jim" in the Netflix comedy series Teenage Bounty Hunters, "Larry Hughes" in Law and Order SVU and "Lev Sussman" on FBI: Most Wanted. He manages Torn Page, a salon space and classroom in Chelsea dedicated to the artistic legacy of his parents, Rip Torn and Geraldine Page.

Connect with Tony Torn:


Upcoming:


Connect with Zoopraxic


Podcast episode production by Dante32.

]]>In this episode of Micro-theatrical we interview downtown legend, actor, director and curator, Tony Torn who lives with his family in a Chelsea, New York townhouse that also houses the micro-theater Torn Page. Tony shares the history of the house which was first purchased by his parents, the actors Geraldine Page and Rip Torn, and sets out his belief in building community, his mantra of radical hospitality, and how Torn Page builds work with other micro-theaters in the city. Host Helen Banner then takes a deeper dive into the exacting ethical standard of radical hospitality and asks how it can help a theatre question its own habits. Before saying goodbye, Helen shares some great micro-theatre happening in New York in November and December 2026.

  • (01:37) Welcoming Tony Torn
  • (03:26) On the Origins of Torn Page
  • (08:02) Tony’s thoughts on Radical Hospitality
  • (11:01) On Running a Theater in One’s Home
  • (14:58) Choosing New Work for Torn Page
  • (20:07) Recreating Torn Page at The Brick
  • (24:16) On Wearing Curator, Producer, Actor, and Director Hats
  • (27:39) On the Future and Sustainability of Torn Page
  • (30:43) Helen's Discourse on Radical Hospitality
  • (37:37) Upcoming Productions

About Tony Torn:

Tony Torn is an actor and director based in New York. His more than 100 stage and screen credits include "Ubu" in Ubu Sings Ubu (also adapted and co-directed), "Paul Swan" in Paul Swan is Dead and Gone at Torn Page, "Cyclops/Mother" in Suzan-Lori Parks' Venus at The Signature Theater, "Rusty Trawler" in Breakfast at Tiffany's on Broadway, "Falstaff", "Panderus" and "Caliban" in Oregon Shakespeare Company’s Play On! series, "Lear/Oswald" in Karin Coonrod’s experimental staging of Shakespeare’s King Lear at La Mama, and "JG Conwell Senior" as a member of the original cast of in the immersive show Life and Trust. He has performed in multiple shows with legendary experimental theater artists Richard Foreman and Reza Abdoh. He was a founding director of Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping, and his recent staging of Romina Paula's The Whole of Time was described as "beautifully directed" in The New Yorker. He recently appeared as "The Toymaster" on NBC’s hit series The Blacklist, "Sister Jim" in the Netflix comedy series Teenage Bounty Hunters, "Larry Hughes" in Law and Order SVU and "Lev Sussman" on FBI: Most Wanted. He manages Torn Page, a salon space and classroom in Chelsea dedicated to the artistic legacy of his parents, Rip Torn and Geraldine Page.

Connect with Tony Torn:


Upcoming:


Connect with Zoopraxic


Podcast episode production by Dante32.

]]>332a5a81-f80e-4ca7-9819-5f0ffca0ac88Thu, 12 Nov 2026 07:00:00 -050040:44falsefull1111Welcome to Micro-theatricalWelcome to Micro-theatricalWelcome to Micro-theatrical, a podcast exploring what becomes possible when art and performance get smaller by design.

I’m your host, Helen Banner: a director, playwright and installation artist, and the Creative Director of Zoopraxic, an experimental performance space in an old electrical building in Long Island City, Queens, New York.

On Micro-theatrical, we meet the artists making ambitious work in unexpected places: choreographers dancing in lofts, playwrights staging plays in their friends’ apartments, performers projecting their work on the streets, creative technologists building virtual worlds, and artistic directors promoting new work in DIY spaces.

We’ll discuss their experiences, their triumphs, their lessons-learned, the tools and tech that they love, and what keeps them coming back to work in intimate spaces.

We’ll also connect these experiments to the research and ideas behind small-scale performance, and start to build our own theories about how limited space, scale and resources can inspire new forms of attention, invention, and proximity.

What is micro-theatricality really, and how is this idea inspiring its own contemporary scene, both here in New York and around the world?

New episodes arrive on the second Thursday of every month.

Please join us as we explore the scrappy, imaginative world of micro-theatrical art, and discover how expansive performance can become when it gets small.

]]>Welcome to Micro-theatrical, a podcast exploring what becomes possible when art and performance get smaller by design.

I’m your host, Helen Banner: a director, playwright and installation artist, and the Creative Director of Zoopraxic, an experimental performance space in an old electrical building in Long Island City, Queens, New York.

On Micro-theatrical, we meet the artists making ambitious work in unexpected places: choreographers dancing in lofts, playwrights staging plays in their friends’ apartments, performers projecting their work on the streets, creative technologists building virtual worlds, and artistic directors promoting new work in DIY spaces.

We’ll discuss their experiences, their triumphs, their lessons-learned, the tools and tech that they love, and what keeps them coming back to work in intimate spaces.

We’ll also connect these experiments to the research and ideas behind small-scale performance, and start to build our own theories about how limited space, scale and resources can inspire new forms of attention, invention, and proximity.

What is micro-theatricality really, and how is this idea inspiring its own contemporary scene, both here in New York and around the world?

New episodes arrive on the second Thursday of every month.

Please join us as we explore the scrappy, imaginative world of micro-theatrical art, and discover how expansive performance can become when it gets small.

]]>e70067e4-1e63-4033-979f-2613f89ea91cMon, 19 Oct 2026 08:00:00 -040001:55falsetrailer