The Anna Scher theatre in Islington, north London, was responsible for producing some of the cream of modern British talent, including Daniel Kaluuya, Kathy Burke and Phil Daniels. But Anna Scher, who has died aged 78, had little patience with talk of fame. “We do not tolerate hubristic behaviour here,” she told her class in 1997. “Being an actor is just a job. Compared to being a midwife, it is really nothing and you should all remember that.”
Her students were asked to keep in mind five P words: punctuality, preparation, presentation, practice and positive. Scher, who described herself as “an Irish-Jewish-Lithuanian integrationist” and was usually seen in beads, bracelets and alice band, launched the endeavour in 1968 as a lunchtime drama club at Ecclesbourne junior school, where she was a teacher. Drama, she found, was the most effective way to communicate with pupils who were non-readers.
