AS THE LIKES of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy win ever-larger audiences and ratings, it would seem there's growing acceptance of gay life in Hong Kong.
At least that's what the team behind Queer Show, a stage production focusing on one man's romantic history, hope.
The production, by local playwright Wong Chi-lung, divides the life and loves of 30-year-old gay man Michael into three acts.
Its confessional tone allows Michael to review his past love affairs as he bakes himself a birthday cake. 'The first bit is about puppy love - it's a comedy,' says Joey Leung Cho-ying, who plays Michael.
'The middle part [recounting Michael's love affair with a 'bad but handsome man'] is like a soap opera. And the final bit is purely a love story.'
Michael's search for a soul mate, not his sexuality, is the crux of the production, says Leung, a 27-year-old Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA) student, who says he's confident audiences will warm to the theme.
He hopes the show's title won't deter conservative theatre-goers. 'We're not focusing on whether someone's gay or not,' he says. 'We're focusing on love itself - and that's universal.'