It takes a certain kind of person or should I say….queen….to captivate an audience, especially if your audience is a group of children.
Drag Queen Amanda Villa has been doing just that at her Drag Storytimes that run the last Saturday of the month at 10:30 a.m. at the Bookkeeper.
“Susan's [Susan Chamberlain, owner of The Bookkeeper] always seen The Bookkeeper as a space to bring community together from various walks of life,” says Villa.
“She just wanted it to be a very open place, and had this dream of having a Drag Storytime. I happened to move into town, taking a risk basically that my drag might take off here in Sarnia. I had done things here before, but when I moved here they found out about me, we connected and they brought me on.”
Stories, singing and dancing are all par for the course, and Ms. Villa is a born performer and ready to entertain.
“When she's on the stage, she's a riot. When she's reading books in front of families, she's a lot more quiet, you know. You're able to gauge the character for the audience. I also love music, period. I love dancing, period,” explains Villa.
“I have a lot of creative energy in my body, and so performing on a stage, I'm no newbie.I've been performing in theatre since I was four years old. I did musicals and stuff. I host karaoke. So I'm a performer, and it's literally where it ends. It's a performance, I get to be a character, and people love it, and I go home like everyone else, except it takes me a lot longer to carry on with my day because I've got to get out of character, costume and makeup.”
Ms. Villa has existed in the professional drag world for the last five years, building up a name for herself.
“Ideally, I would love my drag to become a place to help the community raise money. Or open some eyes and, you know, help some people become more comfortable with the craft,” says Villa.
“I have come to love the people of Sarnia. You just have to remember, many need to be met where they're at. If you meet people where they're at, conversation can happen. Most aren't here to call you out, besides the inevitable keyboard warrior. I never feel defensive explaining my authenticity. I welcome the conversations.”
Drag Storytime definitely has its fans. It can be hard for parents to find fun, entertaining and inclusive activities that are good for a variety of ages all in one place.
The first Drag Storytime took place in June 2022. Near the beginning, protests would take place outside The Bookkeeper asking for an end to the popular storytime. Villa, however, kept their head up, even doing their own protest in the name of love.
“I think it's important to just continue to believe you're on the right side of history. It also is less challenging when I know what's in their minds is a narrative that isn't even close to true,” explains Villa.
“Plus, that one particular group that came masked up with signs…they were going all over Ontario so they weren't even from Sarnia…these were organized protesters popping off to the next storytime. They found ours and showed up. Now we did have Sarnians in a very small way come in a little bit upset with signs but not at all aggressive.”
Villa says it’s their confidence and support system that helps them keep it all together.
“Everything really has died down. So I was never too scared in the moment. I had too many people around me who loved and supported me,” Villa tells The Journal.
The last Drag Storytime for 2024 will be the last Saturday of October. The Bookkeeper says they may reorganize days and times for 2025.
This story was made possible by our Community Leaders Program partner.
Thank you to The Book Keeper for helping to expand local news coverage in Lambton County. Learn more