Co Tyrone woman writes heartwarming comedy about being 'only gay in the village' in rural Northern Ireland
"For years I dreamt of writing a play based on my experience of coming out as a lesbian in rural Northern Ireland back in the 80's and 90's"
A Co Tyrone woman has shared her personal experience of coming out in Northern Ireland in a hilarious one-woman show 'Out in the Country’ The Confessions of an Irish Lesbian.
Briege Devlin is taking her story of being 'the only gay in the village' to the Lyric Theatre next month after finding the courage to tell her story through this heartwarming comedy.
After studying Drama at Queen's University before following a career in teaching for the last two decades, Briege decided it was time to follow her dream of creating a play based on her coming out story.
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A description for the show reads: "Hold on to your flannel shirts and get ready for a belly-laughing, side-splitting one woman comedy, follow the wild ride of one woman’s journey to come out as a lesbian in her rural village, late 80s into the early 90s.
"Through a hilarious whirlwind of characters, Briege navigates a world where the word 'Lesbian' sounds foreign as quinoa.
"With wit shaper than a mullet haircut. Briege’s journey of self-love, validation and self-acceptance, will leave you laughing and rooting for her all the way.
"Whether you're gay, straight, or just a fan of comfortable shoes, this story of self-discovery in a world of small minds, and even smaller towns, will have you crying tears of joy, and probably a little gay pride too."
Touring the play since October, she has said the response has been "phenomenal" and being back on the stage sharing her own work has been a "dream come true".
Speaking to Belfast Live, Briege said growing up in 80s and 90s rural Tyrone, it was difficult to feel other from the rest of your community - especially in a place where sexuality and relationships were rarely talked about.
She said: "Being different in any way, especially being gay, nobody was talking about being gay - the word lesbian was never mentioned and if it was, it was maybe something from TV where it was maybe like a woman wearing a suit and a very masculine version of what a lesbian could be.
"That in itself brought a lot of confusion because you had nobody to talk to, nobody to kind of be that soundboard or to ask questions to so it was quite lonely and quite frustrating and a confusing time.
"But you I just had to push it all back and pretend that you're not."
When Briege was studying at Queen's, she fell in love with an American exchange student called Cassandra and decided she "couldn't live the double life anymore" and came out at the age of 23 when her son was two years old.
"It's quite funny in that everything I imagined coming out was going to be in a negative way actually wasn't - you build it all up in your head, but actually my friends and family in the community loved me through it all and that was beautiful," she said.
"I was also a mother at 21 and I didn't come out until I was 23, so I think they got to know me as lots of other things because I didn't want them to just know me as 'Briege the gay woman'."
Working as a Drama teacher for two decades, Briege said seeing other women performing shows and plays across the county inspired her to pen Out in the Country as she knew she had an important story to tell.
Briege continued: "It's just been sitting to me for about 15 years to be honest and then I lost my mum to cancer about a year and a half ago and my best friend to suicide, and I just thought life's too short, what am I doing?
"I could deal with it being crap but I couldn't deal with it not trying to just at least do it and write it and get it out there."
She has now performed the show for over 4000 people and is bringing to Belast for a five-show run from May 29 to June 1 as well as Market Place in Armagh on May 24 and Strule Arts Centre Omagh on June 13 - find out more here.
She debuted the show in the Burnavon Theatre in Cookstown and said to be able to share her story and feel support from the audience in her hometown felt like a part of her "journey of self-discovery".
"It's still quite a taboo subject, especially in the rural parts of Northern Ireland, so it was to raise awareness and to make people laugh in a way of their own ignorance, but to educate people on the issue of coming out, sexuality and acceptance for people," she continued.
"Love is love at the end of the day there's nothing wrong with love.
"The play is a bit of a rollercoaster ride but I purposely wrote it like that - I wanted to give the audience an amazing night out to connect with their friends and it's actually reached a wide audience.
"There's a lot of stuff about motherhood and grief and community and friendships so there is something for everyone."
To take to the stage of the Lyric with her work "means the world" to her and has given her confidence in her storytelling.
"It tells me that my story matters. It's just been a beautiful experience and I wasn't expecting it if I'm being honest but you just don't know if you set a dream for yourself and aim high you can do it - if I can do it, anyone can."
Find out more about Out in the Country at the Lyric Theatre here
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