Playland

With an eclectic ensemble of queer performers, including

drag icon Lady Bunny and Pose’s Danielle Cooper, Playland

is transdisciplinary in every sense of the word: music, dance,

archival footage, tableaux, opera, and performance art are

layered into an ethereal piece subverting all boundaries.

Artist-flmmaker Georden West’s debut feature is an

expressionist and very queer bricolage, focusing on an

atemporal night in the renowned Playland Café. Following its

employees and others who have haunted the space, weaving

together a tapestry of personal and community anecdotes

across the bar’s existence.

The Playland Café, Boston’s oldest gay bar, was established

in 1937 and was a vital queer hub in the city until 1998,

when rampant ‘urban renewal’ projects led to its closure.

Demolished but never forgotten, it acted as a meeting ground

for an exceptionally diverse crowd — throughout its lifespan,

it featured acts from drag performances to DJ sets and was

connected to Pride rallies and underground gay newspapers.

As a gathering place for outsiders, it was also a target for

police raids and zoning.

Alluding to experimental works like that of Derek Jarman

and Sally Potter, West has crafted an uncanny and inventive

flm that boldly transcends physical space, reminding us that

though certain pioneering queer spaces may be gone, their

memories cannot be erased.

Host or Publisher SPACE