UP#13 Maggie Saunders

The wholesomeness of a strip club


“A lot of people don't allow themselves to be fascinated by it.”

Thirteen years ago, in a deserted industrial area in Savannah, Georgia (US), 19-year-old Maggie Saunders fell in love with the art of striptease at Uncle Harry’s strip club. Amid the smoke, mirrors, bright lights and half-naked bodies, she found a world that somehow made much more sense. Years later, that fascination grew into Striptopia: Maggie’s inclusive pop-up strip club, coming to Korzo this November. Together with Maggie, we peel back the layers of this often-misunderstood space. Could there be something in it for everyone?

Maggie who?

Maggie Laylon Saunders (32) grew up in the United States but now calls Eindhoven home. Her work moves between design, performance and social experimentation, often driven by a curiosity for sex work and how people relate to one another. With a keen eye for marginalized communities and unconventional spaces, she creates experiences that invite audiences to feel connected, challenge stigma’s, escape reality and imagine sexual alternatives.

What was it about Uncle Harry’s that made the world inside the strip club seem so much more interesting than the one outside?

“The women were running around naked and the men were giving them money, and in a weird way it was wholesome. Everybody had just let go of these social norms. And I'd never seen that type of acceptance anywhere. It was liberating in so many ways and then I thought: ‘Oh fuck, I have to work here.’”

And so you did! You started waiting tables and later became a dancer. What did you discover once you were actually inside?

“I quickly learned that the sociopolitical exchange within this space was much more complex than anyone can see from the outside without experiencing it themselves. With stripping, relational skills become part of the art form. It's about learning how to read people, connect with them, understand your own boundaries and navigate the exchange between two people.”

Yet much of the stigma surrounding stripping and other forms of sex work seems rooted in the idea that this relationship is inherently unequal. How did you experience this dynamic?

“I think the relationship between a stripper and a customer is far more complex than the idea that one person simply holds power over the other. Of course, there were uncomfortable experiences, but there were also genuinely beautiful moments of intimacy and human connection. I think people often underestimate how much humanity exists within these spaces, simply because money and sexuality are involved."

What might surprise people about the human interactions that take place there?

"They're spaces where intimacy, vulnerability, desire, loneliness, greed, anger, and desperation can all rise to the surface, revealing themselves with an unusual honesty, sometimes beautifully, and sometimes painfully. I think people looking in from the outside rarely see this side of sex work, or fully understand the emotional complexity that workers navigate on a daily basis. It takes an enormous amount of emotional resilience, self-awareness, and inner strength. It's certainly not a job for everyone.”

Did it change the way you think about seeing and being seen?

“I have always been obsessed with this quote from Michael Uebel’s essay Striptopia, where he challenges the idea of the male gaze:

‘The male gaze has often been described. It is commonly said to rest coldly on a woman, measuring, weighing, evaluating, selecting her - in other words, turning her into an object. What is less commonly known is that a woman is not completely defenseless against that glance. If it turns her into an object, then she looks back at the man with the eyes of an object. It is as though a hammer had suddenly grown eyes and stared up at the worker pounding a nail with it. When the worker sees the evil eye of the hammer, he loses his self-assurance and slams it on his thumb.’

For me this very much describes the nuances of relationships within the strip club.”



You’re bringing Striptopia to the theater for the first time. But what makes a theater the right setting?

“What's exciting about working in a theater context is having the freedom to experiment, question our own methods, and explore ideas even further. It's an opportunity to look more closely at the artistic and sociopolitical dimensions of stripping, while also questioning where Striptopia sits within the wider performing arts landscape and what it might contribute to it.”

How will the Striptopia performance at Korzo differ from the Striptopia club nights, and what do you hope audiences will take away from it? 



“Our club nights recreate the atmosphere of an American-style strip club, celebrating the performers, their skills and their interactions with the audience. At Korzo, we're taking a more personal and reflective approach, exploring five dancers' individual relationships with stripping while questioning what happens when its movements, bodies and aesthetics are reproduced outside their original context.

I hope audiences leave thinking more critically about the imagery we see in fashion, art and popular culture: where it comes from, who creates it, who benefits from it and what gets lost when it's separated from the people behind it.”

Striptopia sounds like a more loving world than the one we’re currently living in. With Meta censoring sexual expression and queer communities facing increasing restrictions, it can sometimes feel like we're losing ground. How do you stay hopeful? 

“Activists like Stacey Claire, Leila Davis and Mercy St. J are community leaders and pioneers for sure, and Martha Dimitratou of Repro Uncensored, who fights digital censorship. They really inspire me. Personally, when I hit rock bottom, I try to see it as the start of something new. I surrender to it and trust that a new door will open.”

Striptopia comes to Korzo from Thursday 13 to Saturday 21 November

Get your tickets while you can!

Get your Limited Edition Scarf

For each Korzo UP interview, visual designer Carmen Draxler creates a unique Calliographic Recording. This edition captures the essence, movement and emotion of the conversation with Maggie. The design is hand screen-printed onto a 100% cotton scarf at the Grafische Werkplaats in The Hague. Only 15 scarves are made, so don't miss this collectors item!

€65
Available at Korzo front desk.