Lilith

   “Before there was Eve there was Lilith. In his new play, LILITH, Allan Havis has placed Adam’s legendary first wife at the center of a parable about marriage. Springing Lilith loose in our age, the play is as devious as it is diabolical.

   The first act is in biblical times, the second in present-day New York, but the distinction is not intended to be clear-cut…

   Mr Havis weaves an intricate web of lustfulness and deceit…

   The sardonic language could have been written by a contemporary counterpart of the Swedish playwright [Strindberg]…

   As in his earlier plays, MINK SONATA and MOROCCO, Mr Havis shows a mordant wit, used this time to ask the question, who is Lilith and what is her fatal attraction.”

Mel Gussow, The New York Times

   “…the tightly wound play begins with a cunning, crafted charm, then gradually grows its own demonic wings and flies off into a mysterious, dangerous realm…

   Havis has long been praised for his skillful, laconic style and his ability to build toward an unexpected, chilling monstrosity. LILITH, with its literary dialogue and creeping air of suspicion, is no exception…

   Havis likes to subvert American drama’s insistence on explanations, and deliberately leaves things hazy, but he is often disturbingly direct in his treatment of women. As in his earlier plays—MOROCCO, MINK SONATA, HAUT GOÛT—Havis presents two contrasting but inseparable images of women: here, he plays on the old virgin-whore theme. No question, he does it masterfully…”

Alisa Solomon, The Village Voice