Lilith Workshop/IDEAS

Photo by Jim Carmody

Lilith opera Workshop
Calit2 Theater/Funded by IDEAS and COR grants
composer Anthony Davis
Librettist Allan Havis
• Scenic design
Scenic Assistant -Charlie Jicha
Director–Keturah Stickann
Sound/Media design-Peter Torpey
Costume Design-mElissa NG
Lighting-Gwikyoung Ko, Joel Britt assist.

http://www.calit2.net/events/popup.php?id=2563

Lilith explores and celebrates the ageless erotic myth of Lilith, the woman who preceded Eve in the Garden of Eden. The opera, which blends a variety of powerful musical tropes from jazz to classical, reenacts the tale from a twin time frame of contemporary America and the beginning of Paradise. Lilith, in the personage of Claire, shocks the modern day Eve in a restaurant by asking her rival if her husband could be loaned for one day. Our Eve, Eppy, suspects her husband to be unfaithful. The opera returns us to a divorce hearing in Paradise where Adam argues his grievance to an invisible angel who holds court. The unfolding story becomes tied in sexual and moral knots as we see Lilith both the victim of justice and a culprit of timeless revenge. In addition to seducing married men, Lilith goes after young boys; a subplot is the abduction of a child. In the opera's finale, Eve must adopt elements of Lilith in order to vanquish her rival.

Because Lilith and Eve share aspects of each other, the opera's directing and design concept relies on windows, mirrors, screens and shadows to reflect the myriad contours of female identity split into two halves. Video and visual projection are essential tools for probing the paradoxes of Lilith's role in contemporary life. Renowned opera director and choreographer Keturah Stickann and designers Victoria Petrovich and Peter Torpey will bring experimental overtones, adding to the opera's seductive and eerie impact.