London-born Ofori was trained as an actress and has since worked in theatre, television and film. As well as her acting she has cultivated a poetic storytelling art form, inspired by her personal experiences and her interest in the representation of Women in art – particularly black women. Bringing these thoughts together she developed ‘Portrait’; a one woman show which included live performance sliding in and out of character monologue and poetic lyricism. It premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2015 to full houses before touring the UK. The success of the show led to appearances on BBC2 and BBC Radio 4, and in 2016 she performed at the Southbank Centre as part of the Women of the World Festival.
Her recent show ‘So Many Reasons’ is a story about the unique influence our mothers have on how we understand the world as women – exploring cultural and generational shifts, religion and sex – a bold show that premiered in London and is due to return next year.
Racheal’s desire to develop as a performance artist comes from wanting to talk directly to the audience; challenging prevailing stereotypes and broadening ideas about what it means to be a young black woman today. Having being brought up as a Christian, the subject of women and religion is her next area of exploration with a final desire to create a visual performance of poetic lyricism to challenge and provoke conversation about women and their place in religion, particularly Christianity.