These Demons at Theatre503

Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, These Demons is a thrilling new dark comedy-horror and the debut play of Rachel Bellman, exploring family ties, sisterhood, and Jewish demonology. Set in modern-day Britain, These Demons is a family drama which rethinks the mainstream narrative around Jewish stories. Directed by Jasmine Teo (Director, The Bevin Boys – London Pub Theatres’ Best New Play Raising Awareness 2019; Associate Director, Graceland, Royal Court), Produced by Tanya Truman (Pickle, Soho Theatre, Park Theatre, UK Tour), it explores themes of antisemitism, sexism, and the stigma of the ‘village witch’.

When an incident puts her aunt Mirah in hospital, 17-year-old Leah takes it upon herself to find the perpetrator and exact revenge. But as she puts together her plan, the lines of reality become blurred. Her search for answers becomes a search for demons - metaphorical and… not. Despite what her sister Danielle tells her, the shadows in their aunt’s remote cottage seem to move. Surrounded by books about Jewish exorcisms, the two sisters fight the sinking suspicion that they’re not alone.

These Demons delves into what it means to feel ‘other’, whether through culture, age, or willingness to conform. It weaves together different types of demons from historical texts and sources in ways that can be interpreted literally and metaphorically as well as mythologically. Throughout its development, Director Jasmine Teo has also drawn on her own unique perspective as an East Asian creative to highlight common systemic inequalities present in modern British society, reflected in this specific Jewish story.

Writer Rachel Bellman comments, I’ve been excited and afraid to tell this story for a number of years now. Jewish demonology isn’t something I learned about while growing up, but as soon as I heard of its existence, I wanted to write about it. The more I tried to research it, the less I felt I knew. To me this is a story about what we do and don’t know about who we are, where we’re from, and all the nagging, darker thoughts that creep up on us but we’re afraid to admit. 

Director Jasmine Teo comments, From the moment Rachel told me about the concept for These Demons I was struck by its originality and uniqueness. Over the past two and a half years we’ve worked together to develop a modern-day horror/thriller/comedy, a genre-blending tale which is entertaining but pertinent, speaks to a multitude of cultural communities and is unlike anything else I’ve come across. I can’t wait to bring it to life on stage.