Sophie Torrent, LEH’s Director of Drama, is a real live wire, positively buzzing with energy and enthusiasm but there’s nothing theatrical or over-the-top about her.  There are no back-stage histrionics or diva demands here, just an all-consuming passion for the power of performance.

In addition to heading up the nine-strong drama department, Miss Torrent is Deputy Head of LEH’s De Vere and runs the House Film Festival. In her spare time, she is also the Buckinghamshire champion for Open Drama UK (a platform for drama teachers and theatre practitioners) and runs her own blog on Instagram, called Read. Play. Work. Repeat.

Miss Torrent adores the collaborative nature of performance, is constantly seeking out new ways to inspire her students, and is keen to share her know-how and ideas, yet she clearly remains grounded, down to earth and thoughtful.

Drama is in her blood

With her upbringing, she was pretty much destined for a career in the world of theatre or music.  Miss Torrent’s mother, a talented pianist, was Head of Performing Arts at a nearby school, while her father, a trumpeter, was Director of Music in another school. Now both retired, they remain staunch supporters, in the front row of every single performance she puts on, and always happy to share their years of wisdom and experience.

Miss Torrent’s first stage appearance was at the age of seven, when she played a character called One Spot in an original panto The Princess and the Spell, produced by the local Am Dram group. “I remember the audience kept saying: “Aaaaah!” each time I walked on the stage, and I was infuriated! I didn’t see myself as cute and little.  I was quite a confident child and I thought I could carry the role.  It all started there really.”

After studying Drama at Greenwich University and initially working in a pub, Miss Torrent helped a friend build a successful theatre school, before landing a part-time job as a Speech and Drama teacher at LEH aged 24.  She has now been her for nine years: “I just fell in love with the place and the whole ethos of the school.”

The benefits of studying drama

All students at LEH study drama for the first two years, as it’s so good at building confidence and other important life skills such as creative thinking and working collaboratively, before going on to select which options to pursue in U4. About 30 pupils a year study drama for GCSE, while the numbers taking A level fluctuate a bit more but tend to be around six or seven students a year.

Miss Torrent explains: “Our students tend to do really well in their exams.  They push themselves and the standards are pretty high. Drama gives you a safe space to experiment and try something different. We want to do our best, but that doesn’t mean being perfect. We need to trust each other and trust ourselves to take risks and not be frightened to get things wrong sometimes. If you show you’re not afraid to give things a go, then it gives your students permission to do the same.”

Trailblazing drama campaign

Miss Torrent has played a key role in LEH’s groundbreaking initiative to create more contemporary plays with women front and centre known as Write the Girl. The project came about due to a frustration with the limited number of plays with female leads. “It almost felt like we were in a rut, there was so little out there that put women at the centre of the storytelling. So, as a girls’ school, we decided to commission our own plays.”

The first production was an upbeat and empowering wartime drama about teamwork, collaboration and beating the odds, called Wellington 24, which was staged just before the pandemic hit in 2020. “I’m so proud of the whole project,” says Miss Torrent.  “And it was incredibly exciting when it all came to fruition last week with the publication of the script of that show. It’s been published by Nick Hern Books, who are the UK's leading specialist performing arts publisher. We commissioned it, helped develop it, put on the world premiere and now other schools can benefit and that’s so rewarding.”

What’s next?

There’s no sign of a let up in Miss Torrent’s packed schedule.  Five schools are due to attend the official post-Covid re-launch of Write the Girl at LEH on 7^th December, for a day-long series of inspirational talks and hands-on workshops. And she is currently busy rehearsing the latest production from the successful initiative – which is called Team. It will open next month (The Jane Ross Theatre, 5-7 December) and is about women’s football at a grassroots level.

“Football is not my forte,” laughs Miss Torrent. “In fact, I think I’d go so far as to say it’s completely outside my comfort zone. But, like many of us at LEH, I do love a challenge. I pulled a few strings to get professional footballer Georgia Heasman, who plays for Fulham FC, to come and talk to the students.  It was so inspirational. Georgia was fantastic – she spoke about having to deal with failures, like not being allowed to play on the boys’ team and being dropped by a team for not being tall enough. She told us how she used that to develop resilience and self-belief. It really touched on key themes within the play.  The pupils just loved it, and I’ve invited her to come back and see the show.”

There are many other plans and ideas in the pipeline – of course – and Miss Torrent’s eyes shine bright as she reels them off.  If only there were more hours in the day!