John Constable
John Constable is a playwright, poet and performer, author of The Southwark Mysteries. Having read English at Cambridge, he travelled widely in the Far East, then toured Europe with the theatre groups Sheer Madness - in the prize-winning Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits - Samba Salad, and Kaktus, who produced his first play Space Monkey. John's many plays include Black Mas, Tulip Futures and the stage adaptations of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast and
Paul Theroux’s The Mosquito Coast.
His radio adaptations of John Wyndham’s novels The Kraken Wakes and Chocky were released on DVD in the BBC’s Classic Radio Sci-fi series. His solo shows include I Was An Alien Sex God and Raingods Become Me.
The Southwark Mysteries began in 1996 as a cycle of ‘Vision Books’, mystical poems inspired by the spirit of a Winchester Goose who was apparently buried in the Cross Bones Graveyard. By 1999, it had expanded to include a cycle of contemporary ‘Mystery Plays’ and ‘Glossolalia’ of local esoteric history and folk-lore.
The Southwark Mysteries were first performed in Shakespeare's Globe and Southwark Cathedral on Easter Sunday (also St George’s Day and ‘Shakespeare’s Birthday’) 23rd April 2000.
A new production of The Southwark Mysteries, directed by Sarah Davey-Hull, was performed in Southwark Cathedral on 22nd, 23rd and 24th April 2010 - with a professional core cast and crew and a hundred-strong community cast. There were also free performances of scenes from the play at the Scoop, More London.
John Constable’s Sha-Manic Plays, his adaptation of Gormenghast, The Southwark Mysteries and Secret Bankside – Walks In The Outlaw Borough are all published by Oberon Books. They are available at the Southwark Cathedral bookshop, National Theatre Bookshop, South Bank, and Housmans Bookshop, Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, or online at Amazon.
books available from
Amazon.co.uk
An Arts Council residency at Winchester Cathedral produced his prose-poem Time Out Of Mind, published online by ArchiTEXTS:
Wennefer's Wake, Constable's 'cautionary tale of sex drugs and ancient Egypt let loose on south London club culture' was transmitted on 20th September 2009 and is now archived on Johny Brown's radiojoy.
John gives talks on magic and mysticism and leads unusual guided walks. He is also widely known as John Crow, the south London shaman who channels The Goose, the spirit of a medieval prostitute allegedly buried in Cross Bones, the muse of The Southwark Mysteries. John Crow conducts the annual Halloween of Cross Bones and other rituals and workshops such as Shamanic Playhouse. John has performed his poetry and songs world-wide, as well as hosting events such as The Palace of Wisdom, the all-night poetry tent at the Glastonbury Festival.
For his SOUTHWARK MYSTERIES group, he has directed many walks, workshops and community drama performances.
For an audio secret history of Crossbones, listen to Malcolm Hopkins interview John Constable on Lost Steps, broadcast on resonance 104.4 fm and now available online at the Lost Steps website.
Shakespeare's Secret London an audio-walk around Bankside, London SE1, by John Constable is available online from Redrok.
John Constable is also patron of REWRITE, a Southwark-based charity bringing together young people from different backgrounds to fight prejudice and injustice, particularly surrounding refuge and asylum, through the power of drama and creative writing.
