IT is true when they say that love knows no bounds and Paul McVeigh’s latest play Big Man portrays that truism perfectly.
 
Telling the story of Mark (Tony Flynn), a fifty-something gay man who has just returned to Ardoyne after a period in London and his relationship with “himself”, a younger, dashingly handsome, and cheeky chap whom he met on “the app”.
 
This hilariously funny production expertly encapsulates a night out in Belfast’s Queer Quarter as our characters traipse between Maverick and Union Street before ending the night with a trip to Spaghetti Arms for some of their famous dirty goujons followed by a garlicy lumber.
 
Performed as a 75-minute monologue, this production will leave audiences sore with laughter as Flynn constantly breaks the fourth wall to check if the audience are feeling awkward as he recounts and re-enacts their rendezvous which, when their lustrous endeavours are finished, leave Mark’s home looking like it has just been raided by the Brits.
 
However, peppered throughout the performance is the ever-present issue of male mental health, suicide and self-esteem within Belfast’s LGBTQIA+ community.
 
While it touches on the stereotype that gay men are satyromaniacs, what we see here is a man looking for love and having to overcome a number of barriers in terms of age gap, religion and a conflicting gay experience.
 
McVeigh has clearly borrowed from personal experience when writing this piece which makes it all the more relatable to members of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

However, the script is a universal tale of how love and loss are two sides of the same coin. It demonstrates how it is human nature to fall in love and to be hurt but no matter how many times it happens, we will continue on our quest as love holds no compromises or prejudice.
 
Performed ‘in-the-round’, this intimate production will have audiences captivated as Flynn makes use of the staging, designed by Tracey Lindsay, which represents the mental state of a gay man – from the electric jolt of love at first sight alongside the sunken grief of a broken relationship.

 

The black hole in the stage holds symbolic meaning as this is the space from which all of the happy and sad memories are evoked. 

From here, the audience are taken on an unforgettable journey though an almost Shakesperean tale which will have you laughing and crying in equal measure.
 
If you see one production before the year is out, make it Big Man.
 
Big Man runs at the Lyric’s Naughton Studio until 13 November. Tickets are priced from £12 and are available from the Lyric Box Office.