ACTOR Rex Ryan is sporting a scruffy beard as he plays Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch.
Gerry Ryan’s son stepped onto stage on Tuesday night as the gangland figure in a controversial play based around his trial at the Special Criminal Court.
Rex had extensive meetings with Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch over the production[/caption]
Rex has revealed he had extensive meetings with the underworld figure about the production, even visiting his Glass Mask Theatre on Dawson Street to discuss the script.
However, his Glass Mask Theatre are now billing the play as “a work of historical fiction by Rex Ryan”.
A show insider told The Irish Sun: “Rex has been meticulous about getting it right, even down to having the same beard, jacket and beige trousers Gerry Hutch wore on the day he walked free from court.”
It was an early start last night with punters asked to arrive at 6pm at the Glass Mask Theatre with the curtain going up at 7pm.
Actor and director Rex revealed earlier this month how he corrected his script after meetings with Hutch.
Rex said: “I had written that his father was a mechanic.
“He said he was a docker. I got some names wrong and he corrected them.”
Thursday is the official opening night for The Monk with the Ryan family expected to attend.
Meanwhile, an insider told The Irish Sun previously that Rex had sought Gerry’s approval for the show.
They said: “Gerry was consulted on the show. He had a look at an early draft and trusts Rex to get it right.”
‘LAW UNTO HIMSELF’
A previous description of the show read: “Rex Ryan writes and stars in a one man show about the life and times of ‘The Monk’, Gerry Hutch.
“Gerard Hutch is a law unto himself. An ambiguous, mercurial and now, mythic figure of Irish modern history.
“‘I done lotsa crimes. Some of them I got caught. Some I got away with.’”
It added: “Centred around the trial at the special criminal court, join us in Glass Mask as we witness Gerry bear witness to a lifetime of alleged crimes, triumphs and misdemeanours.”
