Witch Bitch Thrift Opens Black Box To Community

Drag kings, fairy hair, tarot readings, visual art, and a vivacious vibe that pulsed with community: these and more filled the event room, art gallery, and gathering area now known as the Black Box this past Saturday night at Witch Bitch Thrift. The Whitney Avenue thrift store has created a space within its space that can be used for anything from a contemplative sanctuary to a meeting area for clubs, classes, open mics, and more. 

On this opening night, owners Virginia Semeghini and Eva Ray chose to celebrate with a ticketed three-hour event of 45 attendees who could partake in a discounted hour of shopping, tarot readings by Tina Wilson, Fairy Hair by Emily, the premiere of their artist of the month series, and, during the final hour, drag performance by Frankie Cyanide and Paxx Headroom. Semeghini was overjoyed at finally having this aspect of her ​“third place” come to fruition, one that Witch Bitch has advertised on social media as a ​“sober/queer/neurodivergent friendly community event space” that also functions as a place of respite and recharging.

“The room is a hybrid community room space,” she said. While the shop is open during the day, the room will be open to the public. ​“We just want this to be a place where people feel safe in, feel like they can come hang out.”

Witch Bitch hopes to have classes, workshops, and a multitude of other events in the space. Its grand opening on Saturday was also a test run to give Semeghini and Ray a better idea of what the room can handle. 

“We hope to kind of learn from tonight,” Semeghini said.

Plans are already in the works for an eight-week-long tarot class, open mics, and slam poetry, though Semeghini and Ray have also been researching and gathering suggestions from customers and community members over the past six months, using that as their guide to plan ahead. 

They are also planning on keeping it a sober spot.

“It just feels like it makes sense for us,” said Semeghini. ​“I think there are enough queer spaces that are revolving around alcohol. There is a lack of spaces that people who are not into that can come. Growing up, I always wished that there could be something like a gay café, something that I could go to during the day and meet people and hang out, something that doesn’t require being up late. Not everybody wants to be out at an event that starts at 11. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea. People want to be involved in things … but some get overwhelmed going to bars and in loud spaces. We’d like to be that difference and provide that space differently. It’s not always about an event. Maybe you’ll just come and hang out.” 

Semeghini also feels like the community is going to help ​“shape the room with us,” she said.

“We want this to be a special space. It has been a special space for us. We have put so much love into it, and we just want people to enjoy themselves and just keep that line of communication open so we can serve people the best we can.” 

And they want to learn from others and from their mistakes.

“I think that we’re trying to encourage people to criticize us,” she said. ​“We want to do better. We can go with it. The best thing we can do is stay in connection with people.” 

Ray shared Semeghini’s enthusiasm for finally being able to offer the Black Box to the Witch Bitch community, and feels the space came out even better than she thought it would. 

“Just seeing this is making me think a lot of Bridgeport,” where their original location was, she said. ​“This room was about as big as our entire space there.”

“I can see everybody mingling,” she added. ​“I see all of these people that I’ve met on random occasions within our store and have joined our community, and they’re connecting, and I can feel it growing.”

Some of the events Ray is hoping to have happen in the Black Box are movie nights, stitch and bitch-type groups, and age-specific classes, possibly in music instruction. She also has plans for events based on her own interest in role-playing games, specifically Dungeons and Dragons. Mixers for those with experience and those who are interested in becoming more experienced, as well as actual game nights, are in the works, though she is also looking forward to seeing what requests come in.

“We want it to be very community focused,” she said. ​“We want to know what you guys want.”

On Saturday there was more than enough to keep the crowd engaged in the new room, which has a stage on one end and three Victorian style couches at the other. Attendees chatted, sipping on sodas and noshing on chips and fruit snacks while checking out the visual art by the first artist in what will be the space’s monthly rotating art series: the New Haven-based Katie Muller, a.k.a. KT Kustomz, who also had stickers, art prints and upcycled clothing for sale. 

Muller called her art ​“more experimental” based on ​“whatever concept I have in my mind that day.” Her series of pieces, based on the astrological signs, proved to be popular that night, with many purchasing stickers of those pieces. Muller herself partook of the fairy hair being provided on the stage courtesy of Fairy Hair by Emily, who said the ​“silky like tinsel” could be washed, combed, and styled until the hair strand it was attached to fell out on its own. Tina Wilson had a steady stream of people for her tarot readings at the other end of the stage. 

Another vendor, Fae Treasures, had been there all day as part of Witch Bitch’s new vendor series that sees a new artist/creator selling their pieces every Saturday. Shea Ray, a Groton-based artist, was selling their ​“hand forged botanicals and ethically sourced specimens,” including appreciation jars, which Ray said hold items that often ​“get overlooked.” The store carries these jars as well as terrarium jewelry and other pieces that Ray makes on a regular basis. Like Muller, Shea Ray has been friends with Semeghini and Eva Ray for a while now.

The drag king performers for the evening, the Stamford-based Frankie Cyanide and the New Haven-based Paxx Headroom, are also friends of the owners and were thrilled to be a part of the Black Box’s grand opening. 

“We first saw it months ago, and now seeing it? It’s beautiful,” said Cyanide. Both had been involved in an alternative punk drag show series at State House for a couple of years and are currently planning Halloween and other holiday shows at Twelve Percent Brewery in North Haven this fall and winter.

Cyanide took on hosting duties and called the attendees closer to the stage, but enough room was left for Headroom to perform their energetic numbers that found them jumping off the stage and into a back bend on the floor — one of their many acts of powerful physical prowess — amid the crowd. Cyanide’s acts were a master class of sleekness and style with a healthy dose of smile-inducing sass. Both performed to two songs individually and then did one as a duet, much to the delight of the audience, who cheered for and tipped them. 

During a break in the performances, Semeghini and Ray took to the stage to thank everyone and express their delight in how the evening has unfolded.

“This has been such a labor of love,” said Semeghini, who shouted out the entire staff of Witch Bitch for all of their hard work. ​“We’re very excited to see what going to happen next with this space.” She let everyone know there was a list outside for suggestions. 

Earlier Cyanide had told the crowd that ​“we are all here for the vibe. We are all here for the good times.” Before the final performances, he added that ​“this is all about community. This is all about love.” 

That feeling was present at the end of the evening when Cyanide asked Semeghini if she had anything else to say before the night was over.

“Get home safe,” said Semeghini to the crowd. ​“And let me know if you got home safe.”

“Yes! DM Witch Bitch and tell them you’re home,” said Cyanide. ​“They’ll love that.”

More information about Witch Bitch Thrift and their Black Box space events can be found on their website as well as their various social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Discord). The space is now open to the public during the store’s regular business hours.