I met Veronica at the very start of my IB international teaching experience. 
 
I had just accepted the post of teacher of teacher of Theatre Arts in Hong Kong.  Somehow Veronica had been able to find out who had been tasked with introducing the programme to the school and had tracked me down to Brighton. Based in London, she had, nevertheless, maintained strong links with Hong Kong over the years.
 
I sat waiting at the table, realising I had little idea of who I was about to meet.  The Dorset Café was perfectly situated, right in the middle of the North Laines and not too far from the station.   I kept scanning the customers until I caught sight of a slight woman, eyes wide, similarly looking across the tables. 
I stood. “Veronica?”
She drank in the scene in front of her with pleasure. 
“You must be Maurice” she said stepping forward and beaming. 
“It’s so good to meet you at last”.  
Veronica’s wonderful warmth of character meant that in no time we were settled, deep in conversation about our shared passion; drama.  Over my cappuccino and Veronica’s cup of tea she tentatively mapped out a vision she had for introducing Playback to Li Po Chun United World College. Being the only residential college in Hong Kong and part of the United World College movement, the college was well-known in the territory.  With its progressive ideals and stress on community and connection, it would have seemed the natural home for Playback, but for some reason Veronica’s attempts to interest the college in its potential had so far fallen on barren ground. 
 
Veronica was determined however, and her enthusiasm for Playback in the café was infectious. I was confused why she could have encountered such resistance. Stories of how playback had been taken to different communities emerged. Within safe environments created, audiences shared personal experiences. Performers then were able to immediately reflect these back meaningfully. Before anything could happen the conductor needed to be able to hear and reach a story in the first place.  The skills needed were complex and impressive; not only for spontaneous improvisation but also the deep and active listening. I was spellbound.
 
 Veronica told me she was travelling out to Hong Kong a month or so after I got there. Would we be able to meet up again once she had got herself settled? She was keen to show me one of her favourite local dim sum restaurants and also to see if we could develop something more. I was more than happy to do so and amazed that I had met someone with such a strong and deep local connection before I even set foot in the place.
 
“Oh, Veronica Needa, yes, she’s been out here a couple of times, going on about Playback. I wouldn’t pay too much attention to all that.  Best to focus on what is needed to get the DP Theatre Art programme up and running”.
 
I did not leave it there, however.
 
 Veronica had inspired me. I was keen to find some way to see her work with the students, to see if we could offer something more.  The after-school CAS programme offered Theatre as one of many options to the wider student community.  Veronica was very keen to come in on a Wednesday afternoon and just do a workshop with the students.  Her gentle warmth, fun games and sense of exploration won them over immediately. 
 
She had no problem engaging them with the idea of Playback. Soon she was guiding others in the delicate skills needed to gently coax a story from reluctant audience members and then to magically call upon just the right form needed to cradle their story before sending it back to them in performance.  And that was just the beginning of a wonderful rich five-year long journey. Veronica, our fairy godmother, flying in every so often to catch up with her Playbackers, helping them always to hone their skills just that little bit more each time. 
 
Veronica loved, too, being in a place where her heritage, which called to both the powerful cultures that had shaped Hong Kong, was celebrated.  She was able to make real the changes in attitude that had taken place in Hong Kong over the years, in the stories she gave us of growing up in the colony. She told of the strange divides that had separated people and caused such pain for some. But always with a gentleness and that light in her eyes.
 
In the course of those visits she drew others into her Playback orbit too; Hayley, Neil, Christine,  so many others …the list was long.  They were able to step in to ensure that this deep and rich tradition, which had become so much part of college, was able to live on when I decided the road called once more.
 
I am so sorry I did not get more time with her.  She had such a quiet vibrancy and kind passion.  We met a few times, once I finally got back to the UK, but life finally got in the way. I was able  to follow some of her adventures at a distance but the fondness she seemed to generate in others always remained.
 
I write from Armenia, from another UWC but this time at the end of an IB theatre teaching rather than one beginning.  In a couple of months, I will close the Blackbox for the last time. I will head back to France to potter and play with our dogs. Veronica seems to have found her way to me once again. I was so grateful for her guiding spirit at the start of my journey and am again keenly aware now of both her presence and the loss. 
 
She is sorely missed by so many whose lives she touched.