REMEMBERING PENNY WESSON

It was with great sadness that we learnt of the recent passing of Penny Wesson.

Penny, who died this February, was a founding trustee of BADA who generously lent the Academy the skills and wisdom she had honed as a theatrical agent looking after actors and latterly directors. She brought level-headed common sense to difficult decisions faced by the Board, and unerring good humour. She took a deep interest in our students and rarely missed the end of Semester performances. She delighted in the Midsummer in Oxford program and always made a point of visiting Balliol and then Magdalen Colleges on Open Days. Without her continuing support BADA and the Midsummer Conservatory Program in particular would not have flourished as they have.

Her love of theatre was combined with a personal passion for painting and textile design, and had circumstances been different when younger she might have become the artist that she was beginning to train to be. Above all Penny was that rare thing a truly good person with an instinct for friendship and who saw and sought out the best in people.