The Grand Illusion

PLAYLAND conjures a time-bending night in Boston’s oldest and most notorious gay bar. Featuring an eclectic ensemble of queer performers, including drag icon Lady Bunny and POSE’s Danielle Cooper, this transdisciplinary film sees music, dance, archival footage, tableaux, opera, and performance art layered into an ethereal piece subverting all boundaries. The work of queer fantasy and history takes place inside the empty husk of the Playland Café. Although the cafe shut down in the late ’90s, PLAYLAND stages one last bawdy night on the town for the ghosts of their LGBTQ+ ancestors.

“West’s film is a haunted house, a tribute to these ghosts and the living queers most deliciously possessed.” Drew Gregory, Autostraddle

“Ambitious, nearly uncategorizable… uncanny.” Filmmaker Magazine