Biographies of Judges
Richard Harding
Richard Harding was born in Warrington, England. He is a graduate of Cambridge University, where he won an open entrance scholarship and took his BA (Hons.) and then MA in Modern and Medieval Languages. His past and current professional and civic affiliations include: board-member of the English-Speaking Union (San Francisco), Craigslist Foundation (San Francisco), American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco) and American Associates of the National Theatre (London and New York); member of the San Francisco Ballet Professional Advisors' Council; registered Trust and Estate Practitioner (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, London, New York and San Francisco);. Now holding dual US and UK citizenship, Harding resides in San Francisco and is a partner in a wealth-management practice at Merrill Lynch in Mill Valley, Marin County.
John Loschmann
John Loschmann is the Director of Drama at Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton California . He has a Master of Fine Arts from The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco where he taught and administrated for fifteen years. John has taught at the University of Virginia , University of Kentucky , San Jose State University as well as visiting professorships at UC San Diego and the University of San Diego and master classes at numerous colleges and universities. He has directed and choreographed over 50 shows.
Gina McKuen
Gina McKuen has been a teacher for 17 years, and is currently in her 12th year at Piedmont Middle School in Piedmont, California, where she teaches 7th-grade Core Studies and Shakespearean Drama. Gina has taught theater to students ranging in age from five to 14. Gina is the Director of the Piedmont Shakespeare Performance Club. In 2008, the San Francisco branch of the English Speaking Union awarded Gina a scholarship to Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London, where she and nineteen other U.S. teachers shared techniques and learned from some of the finest Bard actors and directors in the world.
Bill Olson
Bill is returning to judge his fourth year of the ESU Shakespeare competition. He has taught Shakespeare to at-risk youth with San Francisco Shakespeare for the last four years, directing plays at both Cadwalader and Morrill schools in San Jose . He has also directed productions for Jordan Middle School in Palo Alto . Bill teaches an Acting Fundamentals class for adults at San Jose Repertory Theatre for Billie Sheperd and Associates. A member of Actor's Equity, Bill has performed throughout the Bay Area with Marin Shakespeare, TheatreWorks, San Jose Stage Company, 42nd Street Moon, and others.
