Gerry Ryan's son Rex shies away from sharing details on upcoming stage role as ‘The Monk'
Ryan family in the dark about show detailing life of notorious gangster
Gerry Ryan's son Rex has shied away from sharing details about his upcoming stage role as Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch from his siblings, sister Bonnie has revealed.
The eldest child of the late RTÉ broadcaster is set to direct and star in a play based on the veteran criminal's life at Ryan's Glass Mask Theatre in Bestseller Café on Dawson Street next month.
'The Monk', a one-man show, takes place entirely in the holding cell of the Special Criminal Court, five minutes before Hutch is set to receive the verdict of his 2022 trial at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, where he stood accused of murdering David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in February 2016.
Rex Ryan's sister Bonnie
But the Ryans have no idea what to expect when it comes to the 65-minute drama – having to wait until June 10 to see their brother transform into The Monk on opening night.
'We actually really know nothing at all about it. It's going to be a total surprise,' Rex's younger sister Bonnie Ryan tells the Sunday World.
'He's been working really hard on it and I've no doubt that it's going to be amazing.
Rex initially got his blessing after a half-hour video call with Hutch from Wheatfield Prison back in 2022, organised by Hutch's son Jason.
Speaking to the Irish Independent this month, the 35-year-old explained how he sought permission to tell The Monk's story on stage.
'
He told me to do what I like and that if it was my fiction, and not his, I could go ahead. 'I don't give a bo***x, Rex.''
Rex Ryan in The Monk
He met Hutch at Glass Mask Theatre last year around the time of Hutch's Dáil election bid
'I asked him loads of factual questions and probed him about his first memory, his childhood,' Rex detailed.
This meeting, paired together with research from 'multiple other sources' – including Hutch's appearance on the Crime World podcast last November – helped him piece together the story of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch.
Rex is now finally ready to play one of Ireland's most polarising figures on stage.
'The Monk' will take place at the Glass Mask Theatre on Dawson Street from June 10 to 21.
Rex Ryan in The Monk
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