BY BOB KRASNER
Drag queen,” “femme,” “queer,”
“trans,” “drag king” — if any
of these terms interest you,
you’ll want to see “A Night at Switch n’
Play,” a new documentary that examines
the Brooklyn-based drag and burlesque
collective “Switch n’ Play.”
The film, directed by Cody Stickels
and produced by Chelsea Moore, is a
loving and lively look at a group of performers
who won the title of “Best Burlesque
Show” at the Brooklyn Nightlife
Awards in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
The core group of seven, usually
augmented with guest stars, can be
seen twice a month at the Branded Saloon,
where most of the doc was filmed.
The film, which switches back and
forth between performances, provides
glimpses behind the scenes and interviews.
The project makes it clear that the
artists are interested in moving forward
with both drag and burlesque, subverting
many of the assumptions one might
have about both genres. In addition, it
stresses the feeling that everyone in the
room — performers and audience —
are in a safe space where they can do
some “exploring, subverting, defying
the rules of social acceptability” (in the
words of performer Zoe Ziegfeld) while
being seriously entertained. After a recent
Halloween themed evening, the
entertainers shared their thoughts on
the movie and their art.
“Burlesque can be sexy, sad, hilarious,
grotesque, tender,” Ziegfeld explains.
“But sometimes it’s the hottest
milk man you’ve ever seen in your life
(K. James) or a giant stripping Twinkie
‘Switch N Play’ offers night of drag fun
(Divina GranSparkle) or a
terrifying fetish dentist in
rubber gloves spitting loose
teeth into the audience (Nyx
Nocturne).”
The performances range
from laugh-out-loud funny to
characters worthy of a horror
movie, but even the edgiest
personas have a personal
message.
Nyx Nocturne uses the
stage to stimulate their audience
in more than one way.
“As a fat, person of color,
non-binary queer person, the
way I have experienced desirability
Miss Malice in the dressing room
doing a touch-up.
PHOTO : BOB KRASNER
in more mainstream communities
comes weighted with a certain
amount of fetishizing curiosity, fear,
and disgust,” they noted. “On stage I
tend to blend scary and sexy in a way
that intentionally blurs people’s idea
of what excites their desire and what
scares them.”
Divina GranSparkle, who discusses
her upbringing and describes herself as
“filthy and ludicrous” in the film, has a
similar approach.
“I like to create acts that come from
a source of personal discomfort,” she
said. “The challenge of taking something
that normally would make me
feel uneasy, isolated or even hopeless
and make something out of it. It’s an
opportunity to address the things that
See behind the scenes of
Brooklyn™s Switch n™ Play crew
in A Night at Switch n™ Play.
PHOTO : BOB KRASNER
at times hold me back in life by making
something beautiful out of it.”
Miss Malice, the “Femmecee,” says
that the film is allowing many more
people to “experience the joy and energy
of our little back room at the gay
bar.”
“The film is such a loving portrait of
us, both as individual performers and
as a queer family that supports each
other,” she added. “It was such an incredible
gift to see what we were doing,
this whole beautiful world we are creating
as a group, through their eyes, and
through the eyes of the audience. Our
story is absolutely one about resilience
and resistance — but joy, celebration,
community are such vital forms of resistance.
And glitter, too!”
Director Cody Stickels feels that they
and producer Chelsea Moore accomplished
what they set out to do.
“Chelsea and I realized early on
that we were really writing ‘Switch n’
Play’ a love letter with this film,” they
said. “Like they do for many folks, they
made us feel seen and celebrated and
we wanted to celebrate them in return.
Our goal was to capture and document
this decades-long icon of Brooklyn
nightlife, and most of all to portray
Switch n’ Play like the superheroes that
they are.”
“A Night at Switch n’ Play” makes its
NYC premiere at the Newfest on Oct.
26, followed by an extended performance
by the Switch n’ Play collective.
Info at newfest.org/film/a-night-atswitch
n-play/
More info on the collective at http:
switchnplay.com
22 October 17, 2019 Schneps Media
/switchnplay.com
