Brand New Take On DELILAH AND SAMSON Comes To Brand X

Sydney-based multidisciplinary performance makers kleine feinheiten will interrogate the economics of attention, identity fetishism and the gendered tellings and retellings of stories in new work Delilah by the Hour.

Showing for just one night only at Brand X as a part of the Flying Nun Program, Delilah by the Hour explores the cultural resonances of this character far beyond her appearance in Judges.

"In the scheme of things, Delilah's appearance in the bible is minute," director and deviser Claudia Osborne says. "And her story is pretty vague. We know next to nothing about her; and yet we endlessly return to her story."

Delilah by the Hour takes this biblical cameo as a jumping off point, examining what it is about Delilah as a character that has captured the imaginations of so many for so long, and how her story has been used to uphold gendered narratives.

"Painters, composers, playwrights, rock bands and Hollywood filmmakers have returned to her story time and time again, each adding their own embellishment," says Osborne. "From courtesan, to rebel diva, Delilah has lived many lives."

Working with performers and devisers Melissa Kahraman, Mabel Li and Sarah Meacham (First Love is the Revolution, Griffin Theatre Company), Delilah by the Hour places the many manifestations of Delilah in popular culture in the context of contemporary gender politics and late capitalism.

"We've been exploring the relationship between sexuality and strength, economics and intimacy, the dubious heroism with which we imbue Samson and the betrayal with which we've painted Delilah's actions which, from another side of history, might be deemed just as heroic."

"So many of us encounter these foundational stories, myths and morality tales as children or at a young age," says Osborne. "I'm fascinated by the ways in which we feed these gendered narratives to children and build them into our social codes."

Directed and devised by Claudia Osborne

Performed and devised by Melissa Kahraman, Mabel Li and Sarah Meacham

Designed and devised by Julia Gutman

Lighting Design by Veronique Bennett

Sound Design by Angus Mills

Produced by Imogen Gardam

March 7 | 8:00pm | Flying Nun at East Sydney Community Arts Centre

34-40 Burton Street Darlinghurst

Tickets: $25

Bookings: https://www.brandx.org.au/Event/delilah-by-the-hour