About the Author

Kevin Dyer Kevin became a writer at the age of nine and a half when his primary school teacher, Mr Fox, typed up a story he had written. The fact that one month later the nice Mr Fox ran him over in his car (and Kevin had to go to hospital, have stitches in his head and still bears the scar – all true) did not deter him. He is now an experienced playwright with over 40 commissioned plays behind him, a published poet, a leader of many creative writing sessions, and has been a magazine and newspaper journalist. He also works as an actor and a theatre director. As the Associate Writer for Action Transport Theatre he has written The Fool on the Hill, co-written Night Train and Twelve Miles from Nowhere and been part of many collaborative writing projects. His play The Bomb, about Jo Berry (whose Dad was killed by the Brighton bomb) and Pat Magee (who as a member of the IRA planted the bomb), won the Arts Council’s New Writing Encouragement Award. He has also written two large-scale, open-air shows for The Dukes, Lancaster: Beauty and the Beast and Jason and the Argonauts, and has just finished Baghdad Zoo as part of ‘Playhouse’ for Dundee Rep / Theatre Royal Plymouth / Polka Theatre and York Theatre Royal. He’s also written plays for Travelling Light Theatre Company, Nottingham Playhouse Roundabout, New Perspectives, Sixth Sense Theatre and many others.

Reviews

“Drawing with delicacy and wit upon the childhood fantasy of the monster under the bed, writer Kevin Dyer proves why that endangered species, the original play for children, is worth saving. This is a terrifically entertaining story about fathers and sons and the monster inside all of us. What's more, it is positively postmodern in its literary references, with shades of The Borrowers, and a Father Underbed Monster who bears more than a passing resemblance to Roald Dahl's BFG. There's plenty of fun as the Little Underbed Monster takes Ben's place at school for the day, causing havoc in the classroom ... the over-sixes will just enjoy the romp. It's a joyful examination of the benefits and snares of believing the ridiculous.” Lyn Gardner, Guardian