‘We say yes to what you give us’: A perfect pitch for Rachel, the hit comedy in which its learning-disabled star calls the shots | platform

RAchill O’Mahony is not exclaiming that her cutting-edge theater production received five stars from The Guardian. The show may have won awards, received rave reviews, and made its audience cry hard, but Rachel’s joy is what matters. As for anyone else having fun watching? Rachel puts it perfectly. “You’re lucky,” she says.

You see, this joyful, chaotic and different every time production has been specially designed by Flo, Rachel’s younger sister, to suit the tastes of Rachel, 35, who has learning difficulties, loves Kylie and fart jokes, and is in complete control of what happens on stage each night. It’s all in the show’s title: A Perfect Show for Rachel.

The sisters are sitting on the couch in the offices of Zoo Co., Flo’s theatrical company. When Rachel laughs, she leans toward Flo, while Flo leans toward Rachel. They pressed their foreheads together, leaned closer to her, and smiled. She sat next to their mother, Wendy. During performances, Wendy sits in a custom-built technology office with Rachel, who simultaneously heckles the 13-person cast and directs the action on stage. Using 39 large buttons, you choose which silly skit, game, song, or dramatic lighting change to perform next. Depending on what Rachel chooses, Wendy could potentially be tossed into the air doing a dirty dancing lift, and Flo could be seconds away from becoming a human bowler.

“It was a one-man show,” Flo admits. Now the production was “deliberately uncomfortably large”. The ridiculous scale is part of her defiant joy. For each show, the cast may be fired, sent to bed, or assigned to perform a “snack cabaret,” where they dress up like Rachel’s favorite snacks. Rachel often stops a scene midway or replays the song several times because she finds it funny. For actors, performances can be delirious feats of endurance.

“When we first did the show, I was worried it was too silly,” Flo says. “People will not understand how angry I am at the government over how they have handled policy around disabled people living in care homes throughout the pandemic.” Rachel lives in a care home, and during lockdown, the family was separated for several months. “But it’s all underneath the show,” says Flo. “You can’t come to see it without thinking we’ve faced political exclusion and discrimination against people with disabilities in our industry.” “The truth is it’s a poppy, fun, violent, slapstick, funny show that you can come and watch on your hen night.”

Three years after Perfect Show for Rachel first performed, they are now heading out on tour. I ask Rachel if she’s excited. She gave a double yes: in spoken English and with her hands, plus an emphatic nod and a big smile for good measure.

A large part of the process of creating this production was about exploring different types of communication. This interview, for example, will not appear on the show. Flo is kind and thoughtful in guiding her sister into our conversation as much as possible, but this is not an ideal setup for Rachel. “The language I’m using now doesn’t have enough internal points to have an impact on what’s happening in this conversation,” Flo explains. “I think this must be a great experience being Rachel.”

By paying close attention to her words and body language, the team discovered ways to make Rachel feel understood and heard, empowering her to take charge. The team practice was developed with Lee Simpson, performer and co-artistic director of Improbable, who also co-created the stage adaptation of My Neighbor Totoro. “We say yes to what Rachel offers us, and we assume he’s perfect or wise or smart,” Flo explains. “And that we understand why he’s perfect.”

Wendy watched, pride radiating from her. “I could never have dreamed of this,” she says. When Flo first suggested doing a show together, Wendy wasn’t sure. “I was worried at first,” she says, “but that’s all Rachel wants. She’s in charge. People like Rachel don’t often get that kind of agency. Even, you know, ‘What’s for dinner?’ But Rachel has options now. More than she used to, I think.”

Over the course of the show, Rachel became more daring, wanting to spend more time talking to the audience, observing their reactions and sometimes pulling them on stage. The final addition is a window to wave to boys in the audience. “We wanted to keep it safe, and still acknowledge that Rachel has some part of her flirtatious personality,” Flo says. “We often think that people with learning difficulties don’t like people.” Rachel’s repeated attempts to set up Flo’s friend prove otherwise.

With a large cast, a decade-long development period and all the complicated logistics you need to consider when making a show with a disabled cast member, Perfect Show for Rachel was not easy or cheap. “I don’t regret a dime of it, but it was expensive,” Flo says. As Arts Council funding and financial support for people with disabilities continues to shrink and shrink, this kind of work – where artists are brave and imaginative about accessibility – becomes increasingly difficult. “People love that we are able to recreate the experience of giving a presentation like this,” says Flo, then adds the difference: “for 20% of the price.” When we don’t invest in access to creativity, that’s what we miss.

Measuring the show’s success was never about Rachel changing. “Of course, when you care for someone and listen to them, they change,” says Flo. She told me about her conversation with Tina, who works in Rachel’s foster home, and who said that Rachel’s language had expanded dramatically since doing the shows; She makes more decisions about her life and starts conversations more often. When the team took the show to Brighton, all the staff and residents at Rachel’s care home came wearing T-shirts with her face on them and the words ‘Rachel’s Fan Club’ written on them. The team also led a project in the home working with different residents, allowing each to participate in Rachel’s role as manager.

The biggest change was in the makers and the audiences. Aside from the fantastic reviews and awards this love-filled production has won, its biggest achievement can be found in the pub. Every Christmas, the O’Mahony family go to their local village for a pint. The event can be overwhelming, so sometimes Rachel doesn’t want to go. But in the year most of the village watched her show, she agreed. Flo laughs as she looks at her sister: “I got her ass tied up in the net, because the show is a lesson in 90 things you can talk about with Rachel. They had a lot of ways.”

Neighbors and new fans came up to her with a fart joke or asked about Kylie, no longer afraid of making the mistake of confronting Rachel. This effort, rooted in time and attention, is fundamental to what an audience understands by watching a show. “You spent time in Rachel’s world, not expecting Rachel to come and be in your world,” Wendy says.

The perfect offer for Rachel is At the S!ck Festival at the Contact Theatre, ManchesterFrom 19 to 22 November; Queen’s Theater Hornchurch, From 5 to 7 February; Sheffield Theatres: Theater, From 18 to 21 February; Republic of Birminghamfrom April 10 to 12; oxford theatre, From 13 to 16 May; And Leeds Theatrefrom May 27 to June 6.