Eve and Lilith--Adam's Temptation
nytheatre.com review by David Ian Lee
July 15, 2009
The collapsed-vein-thin narrative of Eve & Lilith, Adam's Temptation goes as follows: A sluttish woman in red is sleeping with the husband of a priggish woman in a beige church suit. The women insult one another for 30 minutes in a boudoir strewn with panties and feather boas, before—in a plot contrivance worthy of late '70s pornography—the woman in beige feels compelled to spend the night in her rival's home. Briefly, the possibility of a shared bed is raised, though this avenue is not explored.
In the morning, the two women strip one another. They exchange clothing and a series of linguistic foibles that stretch elucidation and credulity, all in an effort to "try on" the other's role. Along the way the women share an extended dream sequence in which the Biblical Eve trades platitudes with the wanton Lilith, who is then lured offstage and loudly raped by an omniscient God-like incarnation of Adam.
Various elements of the show are underscored by non-original music (including songs by The Cranberries and The Black Eyed Peas), and the characters occasionally break into semi-improvised dance sequences. A calypso orchestration plays under an extended housecleaning vignette, and on two inexplicable occasions Tim Curry's identifiable rendition of "Sweet Transvestite" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show underscores female expressions of longing for sexual desire.
