22 February – 9 March

Struggling at the beginning of his medical transition, a young trans man has dropped out of university and returned to his quiet hometown. His friends are away, the locals are becoming increasingly hostile, his body is transforming before his very eyes into someone he doesn’t quite recognise yet and it’s all becoming too much… Until he catches a midnight screening of Frankenstein. 

At last, when he looks into the monster’s big, dead, sad eyes, staring down at him from the screen, he feels seen.
 

Dear Young Monster is Pete MacHale’s debut solo show, pulling apart fear, otherness, and what it means to embrace being the monster that the world keeps telling you that you are.

Pete MacHale is an actor and writer from Bristol and trained at Arts University Bournemouth. Pete’s theatre credits include LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Manchester Royal Exchange), YERMA (Nottingham Playhouse); DEAR ELIZABETH (Gate Theatre). On screen he can be seen in the upcoming season of DOCTOR WHO (BBC) CHOOSE OR DIE (Cursor Films/Netflix), THE FEED (Amazon Prime), GANGS OF LONDON (Sky Atlantic), MARS (Mercury Studios), NÂNT (Ffilm Cymru), and DUNGAREES (Roundhouse). As a writer Pete was a part of the Royal Court Queer writers group, and his microplay BORN ACTOR was published in the Babeworld X Montez Press interjection calendar 2021.

Speaking today, Pete said:
“I’ve been working on some version of Dear Young Monster for around 4 years, and I am delighted to finally see it come to life in this way. I am thrilled to have the support of Bristol Old Vic for this production. It means so much to be able to present this story in my hometown, with a theatre whose work I admired growing up in the region. The care that they, and my whole team, have been able to give to this show is what has made it a reality, in a time when it is vital that stories like this one are staged. I’m so excited to share what we’ve made together”.

Created by Pete MacHale, Directed by Sammy Glover, Produced by Jess Donn, with support from Bristol Old Vic

Bristol Old Vic, King Street, Bristol BS1 4ED

Photo credit: Alex Brenner