Afternoon Snatch
Afternoon Snatch (2017)
Created by: Kayla Ginsburg & Ruby Western
In Afternoon Snatch, a queer couple break up, leaving one to realize the healing power of art and community.
Created by Ruby Western and Kayla Ginsburg, the comedy series focuses on Annie, played by Western, who is dumped by her non-binary partner, PJ (Pamela Davis).
Annie is a comic writer for an alternative feminist magazine, Snatch Magazine, and spends most of the series wallowing in self-pity and despair, unable to face or talk to her ex. Snatch Magazine is a cool if lightly dysfunctional workplace, a commentary on the comical imperfections of independent and feminist worldmaking: “This is not a radical collective. This a benevolent matriarchy,” the editor tells Sky (played by Theo Germaine) in response to their critique that she listens to the cis-man on staff more than them.
The breakup is affecting Annie’s will to work on their comic, which we later learn has taken a dark turn. The series critiques the common impulse, perhaps particularly among artists, to wallow in their own suffering without realizing the beauty and support that surrounds them.
“In the beginning she’s broken-hearted and self-absorbed, and in the end she realizes that community is the most important thing,” Kayla told me.
In the latter half of the series we see how art and community heals. In episode four, a tribute to Salonathon, a performance art “open mic” run by Jane Beachy, Joe Varisco, Will Von Vogt and Bindu Poroori, Annie gets her nails done by Gigi Lara during a performance by Darling Shear. This scene recreates a typical night at Salonathon, which was a hub for dozens of emerging queer artists in the city, including many that would have shows on OTV (Darling was perhaps the most frequent performer at Salonathon, and Gigi did nails nearly every night).
Annie processes her hardship with Gigi, who quietly affirms her sadness. In a testament to the power of nail artistry, when Gigi is done we see Annie look at what she painted: “UR OK,” two letters on each hand.
The next episode blends sitcom and documentary, featuring Chicago’s real queer theatre group, About Face, and its youth program. Annie joins Snatch Magazine writers Sheila (Maura Kinney) and Andy (Rolando Rodriguez) to interview young queers. Listening to young people who have persisted despite discrimination inspires Annie. One youth tells her that “time heals” and another says, in response to a question about how they got over a breakup: “Understanding that it’s never really their intention to hurt you. It’s more there’s some things you have to take care of yourself first before being with another person.” Here, a young person reminds Annie that she is not the only person in a relationship, that everyone has their own journey.
“Totally organically they hit all the themes we were trying to hit in the web series,” Kayla said of the About Face participants.
The healing power of community is reflected in how talking to other people about what ails us gives us a broader perspective on our pain, which makes it smaller and more manageable.
After leaving the theatre, Snatch Magazine writer Sheila says: “That group seems like they really look out for each other, kinda like a family..No man is an island.”
“And no queer is either,” Andy responds.