"Playland" Returns to Boston
This haunting film screening in Somerville pays homage to Boston’s first queer bar
Georden West’s Playland is more than just a film; it’s an homage to Boston’s rich, complicated LGBTQ+ history. After debuting at the Rotterdam Film Festival, Playland is finally coming home with showings at the Somerville Theatre on November 18 and 19. These screenings bring West’s intricate, haunting portrait of queer Boston to the audiences it was created for. Playland is a poignant, experimental tribute to what was once Boston’s oldest gay bar.
West first stumbled upon the story of Playland Café while diving into the archives at Boston’s History Project. “I first learned about it in the Archive,” the director recalls. “It's a treasure trove, really.”
Playland Café, which opened in 1937 at 21 Essex St. in Chinatown, held legendary status as a lively refuge for Boston’s LGBTQ+ community until it shuttered for good in 1998, closing a chapter on one of the city’s earliest queer spaces. As West describes, they were captivated by the legacy of Sylvia Sidney, a notorious Boston drag queen whose exploits frequently ended at Playland. Sidney’s story, along with Playland Café’s cultural importance, drew West deeply into Boston’s queer past. “I think just the richness of her archive, coupled with something that has so much historical gravity—I was drawn to it,” West shares.
In Playland, West reimagines the lost bar through an ethereal, almost ghostly lens. The film is less a direct retelling of histo