THE PERFORMANCE: THE FIRST WAVE OF DRAG

These photos were taken and put together in form of a magazine as an addition to the book, which showed photos of local drag performers at home. While the main ambition of this project is to picture the life of local drag performers in their own personal environment, one cannot oversee the importance of having a stage presence in this scene.

Shows and performances are just as much part of a drag queen’s everyday life as make-up and dressing up. In Prague, the range of drag related shows is growing weekly, offering a great variety of burlesque shows, quiz nghts, meeting nights and events hosted by local drag queens.

The following photos were taken at two different clubs in Prague, Friends and A Maze in Tchaiovna, both of which focus on LGBTQ+ friendly events and happenings. I aim to create a short overview of the shows that I visited during the time I worked on this project; there are of course many more events, shows and venues featuring drag all around Prague.

GIGI STARDUST & DIMA ARREST: FRIENDS BAR & CLUB
The first drag show that I was able to properly photograph was the Connection Night at Friends Bar & Club, and LGBTQ+ friendly bar located close to Narodni Trida in Prague. The main acts that night were Gigi Startdust and Dima Arrest, two young and energetic queens from the Czech Republic.

Connection Night happens once a week at the venue, moderated by different drag queens every week. Upon arrival, each visitor is asked whether they are looking for friendship, sex or are open to anything, and gets a bracelet with the corresponding color (yellow for friendship, red for sex and white for any-thing), as well as a sticker with a number on it. The visitors are then introduced to an app-like website, where messages can be sent to other people in the room. The messages are anonymous, only indicating the number of the sender as well as the receiver. People communicating on the screen can then decide whether they want to look for the number in the room and meet in person, or wait for more messages addressed to them.

Dima and Gigi introduced the crowd to the concept of that night and hosted the whole evening. They repeatedly went on stage to either play party games with the crowd or lip-sync and dance to famous songs. While off stage, they mingled with the party goers to dance, went off to smoke outside or get a drink, and hung out backstage with their closer friends and fellow performers.

MELANCHOLIA BLACKBILE: A MAZE IN TCHAIOVNA
As mentioned in the main part of this project, Melancholia has made a name for herself with the event rows Boudoir Macabre and Draglesque, both of which take place monthly at A Maze In Tchaiovna, a small bar in Prague Dejvice. The “Maze”, as it is called by regulars, features a speakeasy hidden behind a book shelf, where all the shows and performances happen. The seating space is very limited, therefore it is best to book a space beforehand.

The following photos feature both scenes from Draglesque and Boudoir Macabre, as these events focus on drag and burlesque artists alike. With her two shows, Melancholia Blackbile plays with the tradition of Cabaret and Burlesque in the Czech Republic, and brings it back in a modernized form. Additionally, Melancholia is very careful to select a variety of artists from different gender backgrounds, featuring non-binary performers, drag queens, drag kings and cis-het folks, for example.

Melancholia’s shows pair up with The Gay Agenda, an event row curated by Action Jackson, a Californian stand-up comedian living in Prague. Therefore, the perfomances are separated by Jackson, who moderates the show and throws in a handful of his sassy stand-up.