Benjamin Reilly
DANNY RYAN. Every gay had one.
“Whos that!? He’s so fine! Me-oh-my, its DANNY RYAN!”
MARK FITZ IS HAVING A FREE GAFF!!! And you’re invited. So throw on your Rihanna t-shirt, spray on your super skinny jeans and whip and nae nae with us all the way back to 2015. Oh and P.S. Didn’t you hear? DANNY RYAN JUST KINDA RSVP’d!!!
Growing up gay can rob you of your formative romances, but Mark’s on a mission. He’s been in love with Danny since Stonerock Secondary! Everyone’s in college now, the marriage ref totes just passed, and being gay is finally chic… right?
DANNY RYAN is the love letter that every little gay boy never got to send in school. It takes us on a heartfelt first-hand rollercoaster ride through teen angst, junior cup rugby, first loves and… Spin Disco?
Age Suitability: 13+
WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY Benjamin Reilly
DIRECTED BY TKB
PREVIEW TICKETS €16
TICKETS €18 | €16 (CONCESSION)
RUNNING TIME 50 mins
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Benjamin Reilly is a Dublin-based actor and writer and a graduate of The Gaiety School of Acting. He has performed with many of Ireland’s leading theatres, with notable roles including Sam in The Long Christmas Dinner (The Abbey Theatre), Tom in Philadelphia, Here I Come! (Cork Opera House), Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice (The Mill), and Glen in The Wind that Shakes the Wig (Cork Midsummer Festival). On screen, he stars as Sam in the upcoming feature film The Horrors (Sourface Pictures), opposite Calum Maxwell.
As a writer, Benjamin is a former Oscar Wilde Fellow at The Little Museum of Dublin. DANNY RYAN is his debut play, originally developed at Scene + Heard with TKB. His second play, Mortal Sin, directed by Lee Coffey and co-starring Isolde Fenton, premieres at Bewley’s Café Theatre from August 18–September 6.
TKB has set Irish theatre on fire with his unique brand of black, from-the-flats tragicomedy, educating and celebrating working class life in modern Dublin with a gleeful authenticity. TKB is artistic director of Breadline, a theatre company dedicated to taking down the middle class gauze from Irish Theatre and giving an authentic, unfiltered voice to the voiceless.
In just one year, TKB churned out three critically acclaimed, award winning, sell out shows. The first two of his plays Say Nothin’ to No One and Well That’s What I Heard are the first and second parts of The St. Mary’s Mansions Trilogy (the third part, Always Your Bleedin’ Own, was staged this year in Project Arts Centre Upstairs and received nationwide acclaim) Say Nothin’ to No One went on to win the Stewart Parker Award (TKB was the youngest nominee in the history of the award).It’s also currently being developed for TV with award winning director/writer Rachel Carey. Well That’s What I Heard is now a Screen Ireland backed feature film set to go into production some time next year with Maria Doyle Kennedy as director. TKB’s third play, The Fattest Dancer at St. Bernadette’s was presented at Dublin Fringe and received glowing four and five star reviews. It was also nominated for the Outburst Queer Performance Award. TKB made his Dublin Theatre Festival writing debut in 2021 with his Axis, Ballymun commission Rearing is Sparing, directed by Jason Byrne and starring Denise McCormack and Karen Ardiff. Rearing is Sparing was translated into Italian (Le Madri) and opened the Intercity Festival in Sesto Fiorentino, Florence last September. TKB is currently working on Give You A Revolution, a theatrical experience inspired by the life and work of the late, great Alexander McQueen, commissioned by The Complex, Dublin. In 2023 TKB was awarded the prestigious Jim McNaughton Tilestyle Artist Bursary to develop a new play with The Gate Theatre as his nominating partner.
2025 will see TKB further develop He Sits Of A Tuesday, a musical he is co creating with acclaimed musician Gemma Dunleavy. Other companies that TKB has been commissioned by include Livin’ Dred, Abbey Theatre, Dublin City Arts Office and ThisIsPopBaby.