Flo O’Mahony is lead artist, performer, and artistic director of Zoo Co. She joins us to discuss Perfect Show For Rachel.
Flo’s sister Rachel is a theatre-loving, enigmatic, learning-disabled 35 year-old who loves Kylie, heckling her sister, and seeing people falling over.
At the touch of a button she commands the action, each scene brought to life by a skilled cast ready for whatever she asks of them. From bar room brawls to a bourbon biscuit cabaret – get ready, this is Rachel’s Perfect Show.
Currently on a UK tour (full details here)
Perfect Show For Rachel has been a huge success wherever it has appeared. How did the idea come about and has the show continued to develop?
I’ve always been curious about Rachel’s relationship with theatre.
She’s been to see every Zoo Co show, and she’s the reason our performances are Relaxed As Standard – whenever Rach was in the audience, we knew she’d heckle us all the way through, so we’d make a Relaxed Performance announcement to welcome that.
And whenever we did, something artistically interesting happened, audiences became buzzy, more alive somehow.
It felt like by saying, “We know you’re here, and you can be human in relationship with this thing we’re about to do,” we were popping this British bubble of politeness, and the shows would feel extra live.
Over time, I realised I wanted to explore Rachel not as a subject but as an artist in her own right.
We had this unique alchemy – a theatre company with some access practice under our belts, mentorship from Lee Simpson from Improbable, a family who trusted me, and a sister who is creative, confident and loves being in the theatre.
The show grew out of asking: what happens if we step more fully into Rachel’s world?
Since the first run at the Barbican in 2022, the show has evolved constantly. Rachel now knows what having an audience is like and she’s very interested in acknowledging them!
We’ve dropped the words “Relaxed Performance” from the intro, added dozens of new buttons, and made space for Rachel to improvise with both her cast and the audience.
As she grows into her directing practice, she’s more talkative, assertive and dynamic than ever.
The show never plays the same way twice as Rachel dictates which clips and scenes are played and any repetitions. Are there any fun stories from the run from Rachel, performers or audiences?
Yes! Because the show is directed live by Rachel, it’s different every night.
Rachel now has a button where she can send anyone in the cast – or sometimes even the audience – to bed on stage, pyjamas and all, and the rule is they have to stay there!
In the last show we did on tour, I was sent to bed and spent the entire sequence pretending to be asleep while a pub brawl played out around me. It was exhilarating!
Rachel’s flirtiness has also found its way into the show. She loves boys and she’s going to tell you about it. In Denmark, she turned to the audience and said, “Stand up, boys!” Sometimes she tries to set me up with them.
Every night is full of surprises. That’s part of the joy of working with Rachel!
Has the fact audiences have taken the show to their hearts been a big surprise to you? What’s the nicest bit of feedback you’ve had?
At first, I worried the show might be too niche, that by making something that was only interested in being perfect for my sister, it wouldn’t reach others.
But I’ve found that the opposite is true. By being so specifically for Rachel, it invites audiences to think about the people in their own lives – their Nan with dementia, their autistic colleague, their kid with ADHD – and what it might mean to meet them in their world, rather than insisting they meet us in ours.
The most amazing feedback actually came from Rachel’s care home. After we made the show, her carers told me that Rachel had a much broader vocabulary, started more conversations with her housemates, was more confident and assertive, and spent less time in her room because she preferred to be social.
We never set out to change Rachel, only ourselves, but I think by showing her again and again, “I’m listening. I’m ready to catch the ball you throw me,” it makes sense that she now throws the ball more often. That kind of feedback reassures me that this show is good for Rachel, on and off stage.
What are the plans for the future life of the show?
Touring Perfect Show for Rachel feels politically vital. After the Manchester dates at Contact (19-22 November), we have five stops in 2026: Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch (5 – 7 Feb); Sheffield Theatres (18 – 21 Feb); Birmingham Rep (10 – 12 Apr), Oxford Playhouse (13 – 16 May) and Leeds Playhouse (27 May – 6 June).
We describe the show as “beautifully inconvenient”. It’s large-scale, ambitious and asks venues to adapt to meet Rachel where she’s at. We interact with whole staff teams, deliver access training, work in the community before the show arrives, and share our practice with local artists.
My hope is that wherever Rachel goes, she leaves behind a legacy of change in how theatres and audiences think about what access, leadership and joy can look like.