Big Man 2022 Programme

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Hello and welcome to the Lyric Theatre

The Lyric’s mission is to create, entertain and inspire; we are committed to delivering quality theatre from exceptional artists, with our focus on new writing. We are proud to produce Paul McVeigh’s “Big Man”, which premieres in the Naughton Studio as part of this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival. In the adventurous hands of director Patrick J. O’Reilly and performed by the remarkable Tony Flynn - this courageous new play offers audiences an up close and powerful exploration of how we find love in the ruins and maps out the various contours of how relationships work or don’t work. Along the way, it explores the vulnerability of ageing, the sweet pain of leading a solitary life and the complexations and antics of

dating via Tinder. A darkish theme, told with wit and warmth, vividly portrayed in Tony’s unflinching performance.

The Naughton Studio is where we can experiment and take chances on work that needs to develop away from the commercial white heat of the main space. A place where work that investigates varied subject matter can find a form of expression. Since the opening of the rebuilt Lyric, the Naughton Studio has proved itself as a dynamic and flexible studio space. Be that as a rehearsal space; a studio offering a gateway to discovering drama for our young talent with Creative Learning during the summer; a safe and friendly space for Kids in Control; a hub energised by visiting production companies, young and veteran, from near and far.

In terms of our most recent productions, it has been a laboratory and film studio for Naked Hands, an experimental play about the history of our Northern Irish Deaf society developed with Deaf artists and shown on our website. It was the arena for Amanda Verlaque’s protagonist in This Sh*t Happens All the Time to provoke, confront and challenge homophobia in our society. Over the past decade, it has been the launching pad for many of our Drama Studio’s young actors. In short it is a vibrant space and at the heart of what the Lyric Theatre is about.

Enjoy the show.

JIMMY FAY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Week 3 rehearsals and I have one belter of a tune going around and around my head; the 1994 summer hit “what is love?” by Haddaway! Now rather than dancing in the rehearsal room with glow sticks etc, the question what is love invited all sorts of provocations such as, what does it feel like? What actually happens to the brain when oxytocin is released and we fall completely head over heels in love? Can love be measured? Is love a simple equation or a complex system of layers and ideas, completely unique to everyone who experiences its magnificent sways of passion and fragility. What is love?

The second lyric ‘baby don’t hurt me” adds another tone to the summer hit. It’s a plea, a moment of vulnerability - a warning that we don’t want to deal with pain, suffering and loss. But love and loss are two sides of the same coin; we can’t have one without the other and Paul McVeigh’s play Big Man beautifully captures the mystery, the mess and the absolute fearlessness we have to fall in love and be hurt in love (repeat as much as you need) and to know that no matter what, no matter how high the stakes are, no matter how much we might lose, we will continue to love because it is in our very nature and bravery to do so. I am incredibly honoured to direct Big Man because it is an honest and real story about two men who fall in love. Real love. No bells and whistles needed because the story expresses the universality of love, no matter what gender or sexuality you are, love does not make

compromises or hold prejudice towards anyone. Big Man is a play about love. For everyone.

It has been an incredible experience to make this play at the Lyric Theatre. The passion, dedication and collaborative spirit from the entire team has been indisputable and I am incredibly lucky to have worked with such a brilliant production team, writer Paul McVeigh, Set and Costume Designer Tracey Lindsay, Lighting Designer James McFetridge, Sound Designer Stuart Robinson the whole company at the Lyric and of course, the wonderful Tony Flynn, aka Big Man!

Also a huge thank you to the Lyric for supporting writers and the creation of new work. The Arts depend on having the space to nurture and create new performances and presenting a full season of new work is a testament to the ambition and dedication of the Lyric Theatre. I’m very grateful to be part of it.

Jump in!

PATRICK J O’REILLY DIRECTOR

“No matter what gender or sexuality you are, love does not make compromises or hold prejudice towards anyone. Big Man is a play about love, for everyone “

THE CREATION OF BIG MAN

I studied theatre at university, in Coleraine. When I left, I came back to Belfast and set up a theatre company and a theatre festival for young theatre companies around the island of Ireland. After a couple of years doing that I was asked to come to London to work with stand-up comics putting together solo shows for the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. I started as a director but quickly became a writer/director. I would work with comedians to create shows particular to their talents. I say all this because I can’t help myself. I have to tell a story. I can’t just start where I’ve been asked. You have to know how I got there.

I left writing for the stage many years ago so it was a surprise to me that I ended up writing for it again, more than a couple of decades later. The lockdown made strange beasts out of some of us. I sat down to write a short story, a form I’ve been working with for a quite a few years now, and in the oddness of lockdown, a short story was not what came out of me onto the page. I thought, as an experiment, I’d keep going a see how it turned out. Big Man is how it turned out.

There’s another piece of the story. I met Tony Flynn through mutual friends. We had both moved back to Belfast after many years working away he Dublin, me London. Both arty types, both working-class. Both gay, both of a certain age. We became instant friends. Tony read two stories of mine on BBC Radio 4 and I had seen him in wonderful shows with the Belfast Ensemble. I’m sure this was the other reason what I was writing became a play, and absolutely, I wrote it for Tony. I guess, I was doing what I had done with comedians in the past, creating a solo show for that performer. Now my preamble of an introduction makes sense and am left with no nagging narrative doubts.

After many years away from writing for the stage I hadn’t thought of the repercussions. Primarily, the thing that sends shivers through my stomach, is that I’ll be in the room with people as they react to what I’ve written, and may of them at the same time (hopefully). I’ve gotten so use to hiding away, getting reactions from a distance and piecemeal. I’m not sure how I’ll take it. I’m considering a disguise.

PAUL McVEIGH WRITER

I left writing for the stage many years ago so it was a surprise to me that I ended up writing for it again, more than a couple of decades later”

I found the script so beautifully and painfully visually descriptive. The electric jolt of love at first sight alongside the sunken grief of a broken relationship. I really wanted to echo this within the set somehow.

During the initial design concept meetings with Patrick, the director, we discussed the whirlwind of passion and destruction within the play as well as the internal structure of Mark falling apart due to the breakup.

I always saw the set as a raised, hovering platform; an island of Mark’s own memory that he chooses to step back into and relive.

I couldn’t help but have the symbolic black hole within the space, the weight and the sum of his grief causing his foundations to collapse. The happy and sad

memories get dredged up from this space beneath as well as the cracks splintering through his foundations.

There is non-verbal dialogue in the play through touch, writing letters on palms. I wanted to mirror the palm lines on the surface of his space, with light coming up through these cracks igniting them, like lightning bolts of electricity between the two.

The artwork upon the set is responsive to the writing as well as the characters movement through the space. For the initial design I saw footprints on the surface, mapping the actions of Mark through the space as he goes between pubs. I saw the inkblot outline of “Himself” laying upon the floor as Mark lays beside him, the inkblot’s form only coming into focus once Mark was positioned alongside it.

Through the rehearsal process we decided to strip back the artwork, making the surface less busy, throwing focus onto the whirlwind brush strokes of love and loss as well as the palm line cracks igniting the space.

TRACEY LINDSAY SET & COSTUME DESIGNER

“The electric jolt of love at first sight alongside the sunken grief of a broken relationship. I really wanted to echo this within the set “

TONY FLYNN

MARK

Previous appearances at the Lyric include The Playboy of the Western World, Saint Joan, Madame Geneva, The Seafarer (Winner Best Ensemble Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2013), Much Ado About Nothing and Miss Julie. Other theatre includes The Rise and Fall of Derek Bubble, Ubu The King & Lally The Scut (Tinderbox), Lives In Translation & What WhereHappy Days Beckett Festival (Kabosh), Witness For The Prosecution (Dundee Rep), Romeo and Juliet (Sherman Cymru) & Animal Farm (Peter Hall Season Theatre Royal Bath).

Numerous appearances at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin include Alice in Funderland (Nominated Best Production Irish Times Theatre Awards 2013), The Plough and the Stars, Living Quarters, Toupees and Snare Drums, Melonfarmer, At Swim two Birds, Tarry Flynn (Nominated - Best ProductionIrish Times Theatre Awards 1998) and The Hostage

Tony is a member of The Belfast Ensemble and has appeared in their productions of The Fall of The House of Usher, Lunaria and Abomination, A DUP Opera (Winner-Best Opera- Irish Times Theatre Awards 2020).

TV and film includes; Dalgliesh (Channel 5), Marcella (ITV), The Woman in White, The Fall 2, Small Island, The Ambassador and Pulling Moves (BBC), Chronicles of Frankenstein (ITV Encore), Game of Thrones (HBO), The Tudors (Showtime), Legend , Proof II and DDU ( RTE).

CREATIVES

PATRICK J O’REILLY DIRECTOR

Patrick trained at the Le Coq International school in Paris and is an award winning writer and Artistic Director with Tinderbox theatre company in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since his appointment as Artistic Director in 2016, Patrick has implemented a unique artistic vision of exploring the methodology of Play resulting in the creation of contemporary performances, specialist training courses for emerging artists and the IN8 programme for communities and participants to discover and develop their creative potential. Patrick has worked for Companies across the UK and Ireland such as Prime Cut Productions, Big Telly, Creation Theatre Company, Oxford, Bruiser Theatre Company, the MAC and Lyric Theatre. Since his appointment as Artistic Director for Tinderbox, he has directed the critically acclaimed Birds of Passage in the Half Light, Sylvan, Immaculate, Ubu the King, Natural Disaster, The Man Who Fell to Pieces, Ignition, the polyvocal collaboration between Northern Ireland and Croatia; What We’re Made Of, Hubert and the Yes Sock and Famla, Natural Disaster, Immaculate, A Thought for Your Pennies and Sylvan for Tinderbox Theatre Company. He was awarded the Stewart Parker BBC Drama Award for his production The Weein in 2009. The Man Who Fell To Pieces has been nominated for a ZeBBie award for best play of 2019. Patrick recently performed his solo show Dressed for Space at the Rotterdam Rooftop Festival and is currently continuing training in Creative Therapy.

PAUL McVEIGH WRITER

Paul has written and directed shows that toured to the Edinburgh Fringe and London’s West End. His work has appeared in venues such as the Barbican, Hampstead Theatre and Tricycle Theatre.

Paul’s debut novel, The Good Son, won The Polari First Novel Prize, The McCrea Literary Award and was shortlisted for many others including the Prix de roman Cezam. His short stories have appeared on BBC Radio 3, 4 & 5, and Sky Arts. His writing has been translated into seven languages.

Paul co-founded Scarecrow Theatre Company, in Belfast, in the 1980s. The company won an Edinburgh Fringe First and represented Northern Ireland at the International Theatre Festival in Gdansk. He also co-founded the all-island Armada Theatre Festival which took place in Belfast, Derry and Dublin, simultaneously. Moving to London, he wrote and directed shows which toured to the Edinburgh Fringe and London’s West End. Paul’s work has appeared in venues such as the Barbican, Hampstead Theatre and Tricycle Theatre.

TRACEY LINDSAY

SET & COSTUME DESIGNER

Hailing from Derry, Tracey trained at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth receiving a BA Honours in Drama and Scenography.

Recent design credits include, Set and Costume Design Bridesmaids of Northern Ireland (Martin Lynch & GBL Productions); Set Design Birds Of Passage In The Half Light (Tinderbox Theatre Company); Set and Costume Design Iron Annie (Luke Cassidy); Set Design The Trumpet & The King (Terra Nova Productions); Costume Design X’ntigone (Prime Cut Productions and The MAC, Belfast); Set and Costume Design In The Name Of The Son -The Gerry Conlon Story (Green Shoot Productions); Costume Design and Associate Set Design Distortion (MAC, Belfast); Set and Costume Design The Shedding Of Skin (Kabosh Theatre Company); Set and Costume Design Billy Boy (EastSide Arts); Design Associate Abomination: A DUP Opera (The Belfast Ensemble and Outburst Arts) Winner of ‘Best Operatic Production’ at The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2020. Tracey was Associate Designer for Prime Cut Productions. Credits including The Border Game (CoProduction, Lyric Theatre) and Father, The Father (Co-Production, MAC Theatre)

Previous designs include, Set and Costume Design ‘Is Iomaí Rud a Tharla / The Story of the Irish Houses’(Aisling Ghear); Assistant Designer in the London immersive production of The Wolf of Wall Street (Hartshorn-Hook Productions); Set Design Assembly Required (Headrush, Ireland); Set and Costume Design We Like It Here (Headrush, Ireland).

JAMES C McFETRIDGE

LIGHTING DESIGNER

James has been working as a lighting designer for over twenty-five years. His earliest designs were in the Lyric Theatre and included Stones in his Pockets, which he re-lit in the West End (firstly in the Ambassadors Theatre, followed by a three-year residency in the Duke of York Theatre) and then on Broadway (John Golden Theatre, New York). His design was also used in various Irish, UK, US and World tours.

He has had one other West End show (Alone it Stands, Duchess Theatre), and has lit shows in Canada, Australia, Russia and New York, and his designs have toured all across the UK and Ireland.

James’ previous lighting designs for the Lyric include: The Gap Year, Dracula, Dark of the Moon, Dr Scroggy’s War, The Heresy of Love, The Patriot Game, Eternal Love, Demented, Can’t Forget About You, 55 Days, Brendan at the Chelsea, Our Country’s Good, The Civilisation Game, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, and The Jungle Book

Other recent lighting designs include: Teechers, Mojo Mickybo, The 39 Steps, The Colleen Bawn, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Playhouse Creatures, Cabaret, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and Spelling Bee (Bruiser Theatre Company); The Elves and the Shoemaker, Under the Hawthorn Tree (Cahoots NI); The Producers (BSPA); Bridesmaids of Northern Ireland, Three’s A Shroud, The History of the Peace… According to My Ma, Crazy, and Baby It’s Cold Outside (GBL Productions); In The Name of the Son, Two Sore Legs, 1932 – The People of Gallagher Street, Meeting At Menin Gate (Green Shoot Productions).

STUART ROBINSON SOUND DESIGNER

Stuart Robinson, currently living in Belfast, is a sound designer and composer whose recent credits include Anthem (Vault Studios), The Half Moon (The Mac Theatre), REVVED (An Grianan Theatre), Sylvan (Victoria Park), Immaculate (Digital release) and Belfast 1919 (Brian Friel Theatre). Stuart’s music has seen radio play across the world.

LGBTQIA+ HISTORY AT THE LYRIC

The Lyric Theatre has a long history of producing shows covering LGBTQIA+ topics, going all the way back to 1980 with its production of Bent. While the LGBTQIA+ community has always been an integrated part of society, especially within the arts, it was not widely discussed in mainstream media until recent years.

By giving the community a platform to exhibit their talents while addressing issues they may face as a marginalised group, prompted discussion amongst the wider public who may not have been aware.

In recent years, the Lyric Theatre have continued their support of the LGBTQIA+ community by producing shows that continue to uplift the community as a whole.

Lyric Theatre prides itself in being a Playhouse for all, and will always be an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community

1980 - Bent - Directed by Robert Chetwyn, Music by Andy Roberts

2019 - A Day in May - Directed by Gerry Stembridge, written by Colin Murphy, based on interviews by Charlie Bird

2019 - All Mod Cons - Directed by Ronan Phelan, written by Erica Murray

2019 - Cherrie PicksDirected & Produced by Nicky Larkin, performed by Matthew Cavan

2022 - Callings - Directed by Paula McFetridge, written by Dominic Montague

2019 - This Sh*t Happens All The TimeDirected by Rhiann Jeffrey, written by Amanda Verlaque, performed by Caoimhe Farren

2019 - Abomination: A DUP OperaDirected and written by Conor Mitchell

2022 - Big ManDirected by Patrick J O’Reilly, written by Paul McVeigh, performed by Tony Flynn