Tony Rushforth Festival Adjudicator 2013

Tony Rushforth studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and acted
with the Harrogate Repertory Company and also directed productions at the Bradford
Playhouse, the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon, the Georgian Theatre, Richmond and at the
Edinburgh Festival.

For twenty years he was Head of the Drama Department at St. Mary's University College
in Strawberry Hill. He spent six months as Visiting Fellow in Performing Arts at
Melbourne University and adjudicated the Sydney Theatre Festival before returning to
act in the film The Opium Wars.

For six years Tony was the Artistic Director of The Questors International Theatre
Festival in Ealing which enabled him to travel and see the work of many European
companies.

Over the past decade he has been busy directing and also teaching Theatre Workshops
in the U.K. and in Europe and for the Drama League of Ireland including two Summer
Schools at Maynooth.

Tony writes for the theatre and his published plays include The Kerry Dance, Seascape,
Voyager and Lovers. For six years he was a judge for the National Drama Festivals' New
Play Award.

He is a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music, a member of :
The Writers' Guild, The Society for Theatre Research and is a Council member of
The Guild of Drama Adjudicators and has an M.A. in Modern Drama.

Tony has adjudicated the Irish, Scottish, English and Welsh One Act Finals, the British
All Winners and the All Ireland Confined Winners. More recently he adjudicated the
FEATS International Festivals in Brussels and Geneva. He is delighted to be making a
return visit to the prestigious Open Finals in Athlone.