Rachel Nwokoro is a young black woman of Nigerian heritage, specifically belonging to the Indigenous people of Biafra.Earlier in her career, as she explored acting, directing and writing, she felt uncomfortable with the pressure put on her by the arts industry to choose a single path and specialise. It echoed the narrow-eyed representation she found of herself in popular culture. Rachel is dedicated to experimenting across diverse disciplines in order to discover the awkward, irregular and miraculous shapes that hide within our stories Although Rachel has been performing spoken word poetry for four years (nationally and internationally) she has been telling stories for much longer. She has worked professionally as an actor since the age of 13 after knocking on agents' doors, subsequently getting signed and then, alerting her parents after the event. Never one to take the path well-travelled, some years later, Rachel was awarded the Vice Chancellor's Scholarship for the Arts at Durham University where she read a BSc in Natural Sciences (Biology, English and French) for two years while directing multiple productions. In August 2018, Rachel directed a sell out show at Edinburgh Frige Festival and is in her final year of training with a full scholarship at acclaimed drama school ArtsEducational Schools London. In the past she has worked with the RSC, Royal Court, Soho Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Her Majesty's Theatre, Actors Centre, ITV, Nationwide, Sky News, NSPCC, Nickelodeon, Birmingham Opera Company, Saatchi and Saatchi, Fortnum and Mason, Tricycle Theatre, Thames Festival Trust - Resident Poet, Roundhouse - Resident Artist, Circuito Nacional Poetry Slam MX - Resident Poet in Mexico, La Coupe du Monde - Paris, Spoken Word Paris, Stonewall UK, Sofar Sounds, Shambala Festival, Brainchild Festival and many other renowned organisations worldwide. Rachel has also won a number of awards and competitions, most notably 2016 UK Slam Poetry Champion. She wants to make help make the world better.
