Anna Scher with husband Charles Verrall at the theatre’s 51st birthday celebration
PICTURE: Harmonie Hampshire

• ANNA Scher’s inspiration keeps children and adults on the path of a positive life, preparing us all for good and bad times along the road.

Education is very important to Anna and she helps get us back into college and to forget bad experiences in our past. She hones our skills and dreams, even if they are not within the arts. She inspires us not to give up when obstacles come, which gives us the tools to build a happy life with wonderful opportunities.

All classes at Anna Scher Theatre are diverse in ethnicity and take the dis away from disability. It’s well documented that Anna doesn’t just teach drama. She teaches life skills and conflict resolution, which in light of the many gang-related thefts and stabbings encourage young people to engage in something perpetually positive.

She has the support of her talented team, including her loving husband Charles Verrall and pillar of the theatre Dickon Tolson, who teaches the primary schoolchildren and is a staple as MC at birthdays. Anna continues to teach lively classes. This is the theatre’s 51st year but Anna has no plans for retirement.

There is no waiting list and with pay-as-you-go fees it’s a beacon of the borough, for anyone from six to pension age. Three classes – juniors, secondary and adults – are spread across the week at St Silas Church hall at the foot of Chapel Market. The theatre is a safe place, somewhere to be happy and free.

CASSIE ROBINSON
(One of the many people Anna has taken under her wing)