Lilith: a dramatic poem

George Sterling

In 1904 George Sterling began work on his fantasy drama, "Lilith, A Dramatic Poem". He set it aside, more than once, for years at a time. Urged on by mentors and friends, he completed a draft for potential publishers in 1918. His manuscript turned down, he self-published in paperback (1919). We are reading from a digital scan of the first hardcover edition, which was published by The Book Club of California in 1920. The author composed five songs for Lilith and the lyrics for these were separately published as poems in literary magazines and books of poetry.

Lilith has neither been staged nor filmed despite interest by producers. In response to Upton Sinclair's comment that it was too long for staging, Sterling replied, in part: "In the first place, it’s not too long: you must remember that it’s not an acting but a reading play; and it can all be read aloud in an hour and a half! … ". And, so, we have. - Summary by Brian Fullen

Dramatis Personae:

Narrator: Beeswaxcandle
Lilith: dc
Tancred: James Escareno
Urlan: Brian Fullen
Gavain: ShrimpPhish
Lurion: Brian Fullen
Geoffrey: Alan Mapstone
Amara: ShrimpPhish
Gerbert: Brian Fullen
Arnulph: Greg Giordano
Foulques: Glys
Raoul: Alan Mapstone
Jehanne: Tegan Johnson
Berthe: Winnifred Assmann
Leal: Greg Giordano
Wizard: Ron Altman
Ulf: Inkell
Odo: Larry Wilson
Cook: Winnifred Assmann (1 hr 57 min)