Moxley, Gina

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MOXLEY, Gina

PERSONAL: Born in Cork, Ireland. Education: Attended Crawford School of Art, studied painting.

ADDRESSES: Home—Dublin, Ireland. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Methuen, 215 Vauxhall Bridge Rd., London SW1V 1EJ, England.

CAREER: Actress and playwright. Actress in films, including Clash of the Ash, 1987; (as Mary's neighbor) Joyriders, 1989; (as Brenda Ryan) Hear My Song, Miramax, 1991; (as science teacher) The Family, 1994; (as girl at confessional) Moll Flanders, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1996; (as Kate) Snakes and Ladders, Lucky Red, 1996; (as Monica) The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, 1996; (as Mary) The Butcher Boy, Warner Bros., 1997; (as Widow Flynn) This Is My Father, Sony Pictures Classics, 1998; Glorious Fred, 1999; and (as Sergeant Duggan) Saltwater, Buena Vista Ireland, 2000. Actress on television programs, including Act of Betrayal, 1988; Lapsed Catholics, Channel 4/RTÉ; Molloy (miniseries), RTÉ; Act of Betrayal (miniseries); and No Tears (series) RTÉ One. Actress in stage productions, including (as Carmel) Our Father, Almeida Theatre, London, 1999; Boss Grady's Boys; Prayers for Sherkin, Abbey Theatre, Dublin; I Can't Get Started; Digging for Fire, Dublin, Ireland; Stitch That, Irish Arts Theatre, New York; The Mistress of Silence; and Iphigenia at Aulis, Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 2001.

AWARDS, HONORS: Stewart Parker prize for new plays, 1996; literature bursary, Irish Arts Council.

WRITINGS:

Danti-Dan (produced in Dublin, Ireland, 1994), published in The Dazzling Dark: New Irish Plays, edited by Frank McGuinness, Faber & Faber (London, England), 1996.

(With others) Rough Magic: First Plays, Methuen (London, England), 1999.

Dog House (produced in Waterford, Ireland, 1998), published in Cuba/Dog House: Two Plays, Nelson Thornes (Cheltenham, England), 2000.

Also author of the plays Toupees and Snare Drums and Tea Set. Contributor to Yeats Is Dead! (novel). Adapted Danti-Dan for radio; wrote The Candidate (monologue), for RTÉ Radio One.

SIDELIGHTS: Irish actress and playwright Gina Moxley may be best known for her play Dog House. Set in a cul-de-sac in Lime Lawn, a suburb of Cork, Ireland, Dog House is about growing up in such an area. Amidst the usual teenage dramas of friendship and young love that play out between Ger, Debs, Marian, Mossie, Jimmy, Barry, and Connie, who range in age from fourteen to eighteen, the Martins, a new family with four children, move into the neighborhood. This strange family is dubbed "The Flying Saucers" because of their oddities, but as Jimmy reaches out to their fourteen year old, Pats, he learns of the horrible abuse being perpetrated on Pats and the other Martin children—Val, age sixteen; Dessie, age fifteen; and Bridget, age twelve—by their father. Finally, the young Martins decide that they must overcome their fear and stand up for themselves, but no one expects the results that come of their bravery.

Dog House was commissioned by the Royal National Theatre for the British Theatre National Connections Scheme, which encourages young people to become involved in acting.