|
Raymond Kevin Mooney (born 29 January 1945) is an Australian novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Regarded as an important crime writer his plays have been produced in major Australian theatres and his book A Green Light (Penguin 1988) is credited for stimulating crime fiction in Australia. In 1968 Ray Mooney was sentenced to 12 years for rape. Upon his release he completed a drama course at the VCA and formed two theatre companies: Governor’s Pleasure, a theatre company of ex-prisoners and ZAP Community Theatre, comprising mainly street kids from West Heidelberg. For 23 years he taught creative writing at tertiary institutions. His is currently writing full-time. ==Biography== Ray Mooney was born in Thorpdale, Victoria, 1945 to parents Patricia and Jack. His father was a publican and keen fisherman and his mother a barmaid and provider for her five children. Ray was the eldest. His first school was St Vincent’s Primary, Strathmore, where he was ‘asked to leave’ for his troublesome behaviour, namely ‘fighting and disrespect towards the good nuns’. After a brief period at St Monica’s, Essendon, it was decided his education would best be served as a boarder at St Patrick’s College, Ballarat. ‘In prison I had nightmares about being back in boarding school. I’d wake and think, thank Christ, I’m only in prison.’ When his parents threatened to remove him from boarding school if he failed his intermediate exams he duly failed and was banished to St Kevin’s College, Toorak, as a day student. Here he excelled in sport, wining numerous state athletic titles but also developed a well-earned reputation as ‘a bit of a larrikin’. He completed Physical Education at Melbourne University but only taught for one year at Merrilands High School and Buckley Park High School, choosing to follow his parents into the hotel trade where he managed the Montague hotel, South Melbourne. In 1968 he was sentenced to 12 years for rape and was released in August 1975. During his incarceration Mooney put his talents to good use. He was the first prisoner in Australia to start and complete a degree whilst in custody, Bachelor's degree in Social Science from WAIT. He also completed two years of an Accounting degree, WAIT, and organised Latrobe University to run philosophy classes inside Pentridge. Upon release Mooney enrolled in Arts at Latrobe and was credited with the subjects he completed in Pentridge. Mooney also competed as an A Grade debater for the La Trobe Team in Pentridge, earning top points as third speaker in a grand final debate which his team narrowly lost to a team of lawyers, comprising the famous debater, Molly Missen. However, life wasn’t all roses in prison. Mooney spent four months in the infamous H Division for acting as spokesperson during the 1973 prison riots. Despite physical coercion Mooney refused to break rocks and it was during his period in H that he decided to become a writer, ‘to reveal to the world the horrors of H Division’. Upon release from H Division Mooney wrote a and directed his first play, A Blue Freckle, performed by Players Anonymous in A Division, Pentridge, in 1975. Peter Oyston, inaugural dean of the VCA Drama School saw the play and invited Mooney to audition for the first VCA intake upon his release. He was accepted and in 1977 wrote his best known play Everynight Everynight, about H Division. The play was made into an award winning film in 1994 by Alkinos Tsilimidos. Mooney successfully completed the drama course in 1978 and established Governors Pleasure, a theatre company of ex-prisoners who produced plays at St Martins, The Pram Factory, Open Stage and numerous university campuses. In 1996, with Rhonda Johnston, a Melbourne playwright, he established ZAP Community Theatre, comprising marginalised kids from West Heidelberg. Whilst in prison Mooney ran physical education classes for prisoners. This transferred upon release to being the fitness advisor for Collingwood Football Club from 1976-1980. ‘We mightn’t have won a grand final, but we were certainly the fittest club in the VFL.’ Collingwood made three grand finals during Mooney’s tenure. Mooney has proved a prolific writer transcending all genres, from theatre, to screen, to novels, to non-fiction. Renowned for his controversial topics, his writing exhibits a strong social conscience. He has directed 40 plays in various venues and held long term positions as script assessor for Playbox and the Australian Playwright's Conference. He’s been Writer-in-Residence at Holmesglen Institute, The Heidelberg Community Health Centre and Latrobe University. His dramaturgical skills have been utilised by numerous playwrights and theatre companies. For 23 years Mooney taught creative writing and theatre technology at various tertiary institutions including Holmesglen Institute, Box Hill TAFE and the VCA Film and Television School. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ray Mooney」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|