Litanies of Lilith

“Litanies of Lilith” is a Yiddish/English electro puppet opera by Eli Berman. Before there is Eve, there is Lilith. “Litanies of Lilith” depicts her transformation from the first wife of Adam into the primordial mother of demons. She is created from the same earth as Adam and refuses to lie beneath him. She cries the ineffable names of God in order to grow an owl-like head and wings, crossing the Sea of Reeds to flee from Eden before entering into demonic labor. This story is based on a Hebrew/Aramaic fable written in the Alphabet of Ben Sira, a medieval text from ~1000 CE. The title also references Diamanda Galás’ piece for voice and electronics, “Litanies of Satan,” itself drawn from poet Charles Baudelaire.

She flies across the Sea of Reeds, during which God sends three angels to seize her. They offer her an ultimatum: submit to Adam, or you will become the mother of demons, and hundreds of your children will die each day! Lilith refuses. A storm brews over the marshy sea and strikes her down with lightning (this is the starting point of the excerpt featured in this video). As she plummets toward the water, the reeds in the sea come to life, reaching towards her to catch her fall. Lilith builds a nest out of the reeds, giving birth to the first generation of her demonic children.

The Lilith backpack puppet, approximately 10x10 feet, is constructed from PVC pipes, plastic tubing, wood, fabric, and electronics. It is operated and played by five performers: Eli Berman (voice and electronics), Zlata Godinova (left wing microphone), and Jan Leslie Harding (right wing microphone), Abbie Minard (left eye speaker), and Bonita Oliver (right eye speaker).

Lilith’s eyes are battery-powered instruments with embedded speakers. Built from resonant PVC pipes, microphones, transducers, goat skin, and delay pedals, each requires onstage amplification rather than direct connection to a venue sound system. Two microphones in Lilith's wings feed into battery-powered, Teensy delay pedals worn in Berman’s bra, allowing her to manipulate the sounds from Lilith's eyes in real time. Lilith's neck also creaks with PVC percussion as she moves.

The five Sea of Reeds drums are made from brass and cardboard pipes, goat skin, salmon leather, and palm leaves. These are played by Abbie Minard and Bonita Oliver.

Photography by Richard Termine.
Video by Daniel Hess.

This work-in-progress was performed April 24-25 at Dixon Place for the 2026 Object Movement Puppetry Festival. These performances were the culmination of a nine month residency with the Center at West Park.