Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch makes shock stage debut with bizarre twist for role in Rex Ryan play amid ‘decent chap’ claim

CRIME boss Gerry Hutch made his theatrical debut tonight to huge cheers – as he played himself on stage.

Stage show The Monk was billed as a fictional account of the life and times of the notorious gangland figure, written and starring Rex Ryan.

But the play became even more real tonight when Hutch himself turned up in a chair on stage at the start of the play, blurring the lines further between fact and fiction.

A huge applause erupted from Ambassador crowd as the show opened with Hutch sitting in a chair being interviewed after winning his seat for Dail.

Wearing a black suit and a green tie, the gangster looked relaxed on stage, answering questions about his life to a ‘guardian angel’.

At first Rex Ryan’s unseen voice was heard interviewing Hutch in a spoof acceptance speech as if he had been elected for a Dail seat in the upcoming Dublin Central by-election, which Hutch is contesting.

Rex asked, to audience cheers: “Gerard Hutch TD, how do you feel?”

Hutch replied: “It feels excellent. I’d like to thank the people who helped me get elected in my constituency. I’m so proud and happy to be elected as a TD.”

Later, in a bizarre twist, The Monk spoke of what he might do if he gets elected in the future.

Hutch told the crowd: “If I get into the Dail and people get to know me – they probably don’t know what to expect from me – when they get to know me, they will realise they are dealing with a decent chap.

“And they’ll get to know me in and out of politics and make a friend for the rest of their lives in and out of politics.

“I’ll do my best for my community.”

Hutch then recounted how he decided to stand for election because he was “hounded by his community to do it”.

He added: “I kept away from it, then one day Kellie Harrington was coming down Sean McDermott Street and she had won gold medals and all the TDs were out, and the people said you should be up on that stage with Kellie, not all these TDs who won’t be back after the election.

“So the people pushed me into this.”

Sitting in a chair, The Monk tells the audience how he decided to run for election.

I wasn’t doing it for the wages, I was doing it for the community to wake up the placeGerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch on running for election

He said: “Win, lose or draw – it didn’t bother me.”

“I wasn’t doing it for the wages, I was doing it for the community to wake up the place.”

On a more serious note, Hutch claimed that since his failed election bid local TDs had “started working” and that was “good for the community”.

He added: “It was a win for me and that was another chapter in my life.”

‘PORKY PIES’

Asked by Rex what people can expect from Gerry as a TD and representative, Hutch answered to laughter: “I’m in the Dail and I’m going to be talking to the ministers and representing my community and asking certain questions and if they tell me lies, I will be going straight back to the people and let them know the ministers are telling them porky pies.”

Rex, the son of late RTE radio DJ Gerry Ryan was unavailable tonight to comment on why he decided to include Hutch in his one-man play.

But he previously told The Irish Sun: “When you do a play or film about a real person, if you had the opportunity to be around that person or have them involved, even in a peripheral capacity, you would do it.

“There is due diligence, you have to somehow involve them in the process and keep a distance as well.”

When you do a play or film about a real person, if you had the opportunity to be around that person or have them involved, even in a peripheral capacity, you would do itRex Ryan

Rex previously defended the decision to bring Hutch’s story to the stage, claiming that its original run at his Glass Mask Theatre in June 2025 had brought people from all sorts of backgrounds together.

He insisted that this new production at the bigger Ambassador Theatre in Dublin, which opened tonight and runs until Saturday, would do the same.

Rex told us: “My ma (Morah Ryan), all the Clontarf biddies and Clontarf heads will be here, and a lot of Gerry’s family and friends are coming, too.

“I love theatre and the reason I have stayed in it so long is that it brings people as diverse as my mum and Gerry Hutch under the one roof.”

‘NOT A GLAMOROUS TAKE’

However, commentators have been scathing about the show, accusing it of attempting to soften the image of Hutch in the run-up to the Dublin Central by-election he plans to contest.

However, Rex has denied this.

He said: “I’m a director and writer and actor in this, and anyone who has seen this play knows it’s not a glamorous take on Gerry Hutch’s life.”

The Monk’s participation in tonight’s performance was hinted at last week when Rex posted an Instagram video in which he and Hutch switched seats.

ORIGINAL CONNECTION

The Irish Sun first revealed last year how Rex was to play the criminal in the ­one-man show which debuted at his Glass Mask Theatre in Dawson Street in 2025.

Rex’s original connection to The Monk came through the gangster’s son Jason, who he grew up with in Clontarf.

The Ryan family were living on Castle Avenue and The Hutches in the Paddocks.

Their first chat came in a video call Rex made to Hutch while he was in Wheatfield Prison, when the actor revealed he wanted to play him and tell his story on stage.

I love theatre and the reason I have stayed in it so long is that it brings people as diverse as my mum and Gerry Hutch under the one roofRex Ryan

Rex later revealed how he corrected his script after meetings with Hutch, adding: “I had written that his father was a mechanic.

“He said he was a docker. I got some names wrong and he corrected them.”

On stage, The Monk, played by Rex, is challenged by an angel who shows Gerry a series of TV clips and won’t allow the play to continue until Hutch has given his side of the story.