He describes himself as having a shamanic alter-ego named John Crow and that, while taking a large dose of LSD, he channeled the spirit of a medieval whore who told him that the Cross Bones Graveyard was created for sexworkers.
From 1977 to 1979, he lived in Japan and travelled widely in the Far East, and from 1980 to 1982, toured Europe with the street theatre group Sheer Madness, playing Hamlet in the devised show Shakespeare's Greatest Hits.
The area had a profound influence on his work, which draws freely on its 2,000 year history and the far-reaching changes that saw it reinvented as prime real estate in the heart of London.
[4] She stage-managed his solo shows and site-specific events, co-produced the epic productions of The Southwark Mysteries and created the original "Hand-Maid" limited edition of The Book of The Goose.
These began in 1996 as a cycle of mystical poems revealed to his shamanistic alter-ego, John Crow, by "The Goose", who claimed to have been buried in the unconsecrated Cross Bones Graveyard.
From 2004 to 2012 he was artistic director of the community arts group Southwark Mysteries, conducting guided walks, workshops and site-specific performances inspired by the work.
[5] In November 2010 John Constable was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of London South Bank University for services to the arts and community: "… for his vision and imagination, for his deep commitment to our local area, for his work in reclaiming lost histories and, above all, for his belief in the transformative power of writing and drama...[6] At Southwark's Civic Award Ceremony in May 2011, he received The Liberty of the Old Metropolitan Borough of Southwark.
[7] In recognition of his work at Crossbones, and for the human rights of sex workers and other outsiders, Constable was named Campaigner of the Year at the 2011 Erotic Awards.
In 2014 Thin Man Press published Spark In The Dark, his first collection of poetry[9] In 2020 he moved to Glastonbury, drawing on his first year living in the town for his book 'Grail' (2022).
The Guardian's Robin Thornber wrote: "It's a powerful piece that works on many levels, using the exotic trappings of its setting to cast its spell, but probing incessantly into the murky depths of racial and sexual mythology.
He was commissioned by RADA to write Hot Fondue, a contemporary play loosely based on Schnitzler's La Ronde, directed by Roland Rees14.
Ian Shuttleworth's review began by quoting its most memorable line: '... "Let's get this straight, Commissioner - you're saying that if David Bowie and I have sex, it'll destroy the universe?"
John Constable fully exploits his passing resemblance to the Thin White Duke in his mind-blowingly weird one-man show which takes in acid trips, mind-body transference, quantum physics, Berlin gay clubs and the end of the world as we know it.
In the play, Jesus ('The Son of Man in the street') returns to Southwark to save its lost souls, the heretic John Crow, and The Goose in the guise of Mary Magdalene.
The play premièred in Shakespeare's Globe – with the climactic Harrowing of Hell scene staged in Southwark Cathedral – on Easter Sunday, 23 April 2000.
The 'Glastonbury St George and The Dragon Mummers Play' was performed in Glastonbury Abbey on 3rd June as part of the town's Queens Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
In the 1990s, he wrote many children's plays for Proteus, including adaptations of Maeterlinck's The Bluebird, Thackeray's The Rose and The Ring, Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Rumpelstiltskin and The Emperor's New Clothes.
In 2014, he was the dramaturg for Half Moon Young People's Theatre's #LimehouseLandmark programme, featuring devised performances inspired by the history of their building in Limehouse.