Anna Scher

**Anne** **Valerie Verrall** MBE (née **Scher**; 26 December 1944 – 12 November 2023) was a British-Irish drama teacher who was best known as the founder of The Anna Scher Theatre School.

Scher was also known as an actress, a journalist and an author.

## Early life

Anne Valerie Scher was born in Cork, Ireland on 26 December 1944, as the eldest of four children to Eric Asher Scher (1916–1982), a dentist of Lithuanian descent, and Constance Scher (1924–1984; née Hurwitz), a housewife of Irish decent. Her younger siblings were; sisters Sandra Geraldine Peggy Scher (1948–2014) and Vida M Scher (b. 1953) and brother Ronald D P Scher (b. 1961). Her family moved to Hove, East Sussex when she was 14.

Scher was educated at St Angela's convent, where she was the sole Jewish pupil. She later attended the Hove County Grammar School for Girls and the Brighton School of Music and Art.

## Career

Scher founded The Anna Scher Theatre School (AST), an independent and co-educational performing arts school in Islington, London, in January 1968. Her husband served as the co-director for many years.

Scher made her debut, and only appearance, as an actress in 1969, but her father told her to get a proper job, so she became a journalist specialising in theatre with the _Islington Gazette_ for five years, and reviewed for _The Times Literary Supplement_.

Scher also worked as a primary school teacher, working with children whose first language was not English. She was a chairperson of the International Song Contest for Peace in Ireland. She served on juries at BAFTA, Sony and the Royal Television Society.

Scher was the castaway on a 2011 episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme _Desert Island Discs_.

Scher co-authored three books with her husband. She also authored two books as a solo author.

## Personal life

Scher married coach, writer and director Raymond Charles Verrall in Hampstead, London in April 1976. Their only son, John Benedict Verrall, was born four years later. Her husband died in October 2023, at the age of 79.

Scher had a breakdown in 2000 after suffering with depression and was admitted to hospital. She could not walk during her breakdown. She took a period of sick leave from The Anna Scher Theatre. Scher discovered that she had been blocked by the board of directors upon her return to her theatre.

Scher promoted peace, love and understanding. She was a patron of Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam – Oasis of Peace.

### Death

Scher died in London during the early hours of 12 November 2023. She was 78. Her death was confirmed and announced to the public at 2:55pm on the same day in a social media post by talent agency Nic Knight Management: "It is with deep sadness that I must report that Anna Scher, the best and kindest drama teacher in the UK for the last 50 years, has passed. Joining her husband, Charles, in a better place to rest. She will be missed but never forgotten. RIP @annascherthtr + Charles Verrall." Her obituary was published by _The Guardian_ on 15 November.

Scher and Verrall's joint private funeral took place at St Silas Church on Penton Street on 14 December 2023.

## Honours and awards

Scher was awarded a Community Award from the _Irish Post_ the Woman of Distinction Award from Jewish Care. She was an Associate of RADA. She was awarded a Honorary Fellow of the Leinster School of Music & Drama.

She was awarded the Peace Person of the Year Award in Ireland in 1999.

Scher was awarded Freedom of the London Borough of Islington in 2003.

Scher was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours by Queen Elizabeth II for her services to drama.

### Commonwealth honours

|Country|Date|Appointment|Post-nominal letters|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
||**15 June 2013–12 November 2023**|Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil Division)|MBE|

### As an actress

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|Ref.|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1969|_The Battle of St. George Without_|Maudie|3 episodes||

### As herself

|Year|Title|Notes|Ref.|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1974|_Aquarius_|1 episode||
|1988|_The Lowdown_|1 episode||
|1999, 2003|_This Is Your Life_|2 episodes||
|2011|_Anna_|Documentary||
|2011|_Desert Island Discs_|1 episode||
|2013|_In Confidence_|1 episode||
|2014|_Piers Morgan's Life Stories_|1 episode||

## Bibliography

- Scher, Anna; Verrall, Charles (1975). _100+ Ideas for Drama_. Heinemann Educational Books. .
- Scher, Anna (1976). _Final Act: Drama Kit_. Ward Lock Educational Books. .
- Scher, Anna; Verrall, Charles (1987). _Another 100+ Ideas for Drama_. Heinemann Educational Books. .
- Scher, Anna; Verrall, Charles (1992). _200+ Ideas for Drama_. Heinemann Drama. .
- Scher, Anna. _Desperate to Act_. Heinemann. .

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Anna Scher
- **honorific suffix**: Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE
- **caption**: Scher in 2011
- **birth name**: Anne Valerie Scher
- **birth place**: Cork (city), Cork, Ireland
- **death place**: London, England
- **nationality**: British people, British-Irish people, Irish
- **alma mater**: University of Brighton School of Art, Brighton School of Music and Art
- **occupation**: Drama teacher • actress • journalist • author
- **years active**: 1968–2023
- **notable works**: Anna Scher Theatre
- **children**: 1