Dear Young Monster Playtext

Details

'A jolt, a shock, a humming just beneath my skin, something surging through my veins, my body awakening, buzzing to life finally, FINALLY.'

A young trans man, struggling as he begins his medical transition, drops out of university and retreats to his quiet hometown. His friends are gone. The neighbours are watching. His body is changing faster than he can make sense of it... until a midnight screening of Frankenstein offers him a strange kind of salvation.

Staring into the monster's big, dead, sad eyes, something finally clicks: for the first time, he feels seen.

Vivid, witty and humane, Dear Young Monster is Pete MacHale's debut solo show, delving into fear, otherness, and what it means to embrace being the monster the world keeps telling you that you are.

It premiered at Bristol Old Vic in 2024, directed by Sammy Glover, and was nominated for the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Studio Production. It transferred to Soho Theatre, London, in 2025.