My father bought two bunches of flowers the day I was born, one for my mother, the other for his girlfriend
Ryan’s father – the late broadcaster Gerry Ryan – he remembers, “wasn’t like other parents, who would probably tell you to do something sensible. He was urging me towards acting since I was very small. He didn’t give me a choice!” There were “plays in the kitchen – I was great for the one-man shows. I’d have my box full of costumes, doing outrageous little pieces for the family.”
Originally, Ryan saw himself as a blockbuster film hero. His parents even chose his name, he says, for its movie-star ring. However, as soon as Ryan started training, he realised what an important role theatre had played in the shaping of his actor idols. Indeed, their involvement in the underground theatre movement in New York, Chicago and LA were key touchstones when he began to consider making his own work.
The decision to open a theatre, as Ryan explains it, was borne out of necessity not just mythic idealism. “If you walk down any block in New York or Chicago there are like 10 new writing theatres, but it’s not like that here. Look, there is no moaning about it. It’s just logistics. Our National Theatre has two stages; there are hundreds of new plays being written every year. With the bigger theatre companies, there are just not enough slots. It’s not personal. It’s the system.
Ryan is proud of what the theatre has achieved so far. It is “this weird little lab for playwrights, where we get to try outrageous things. We are like a bunch of pirates, turning things over really fast.” The dual set-up of the venue allows them to offer wine and canapés to audiences enjoying the show, which has had a significant impact on encouraging non-traditional audiences to take a chance on the eclectic programme.
The morning after we meet, Glass Mask were to launch its third season at the Bestseller with Bloody Yesterday, a new drama by Deirdre Kinahan, the most prolific writer they have hosted yet. Ryan is hopeful that the support of a writer of Kinahan’s stature will help them get institutional recognition from the Arts Council, who have funded Ryan’s writing work last year with an Agility Award.
Why is this a top story?
Thankfully most or our parents weren’t cokeheads
I'm sure being the child of a drug addict is difficult enough without being the child of a famous drug addict.
The poor chap looks exactly like his father.
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