Stage Whispers 3-minute interview with Daniele Constance

As well as producing creative, collaborative theatre that focuses on social engagement, direct experience and storytelling, Daniele Constance is also an art therapist and co-founder and director of the successful Suitcase Rummage. Her collaborative works include Daughters of the Floating Brothel (Griffith University and the Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre), The Untold (State Library of Queensland and Micah Projects). Daniele’s latest work, Explain Normal, (with the AHA Ensemble and Phluxus2 Dance Collective) premiered this week at Brisbane’s Metro Arts.

Stage Whispers: Why do you think we go to the theatre?

Daniele Constance: I think we go to the theatre to feel. I think we go because we want to laugh, we want to cry and we want to process and experience emotional responses with a community of others. In a theatre, these things are held, it’s strangely communal. 

SW: What is the greatest lesson you have learned through your work?

DC:I’m quite an impatient person generally, but I’ve learned that slowness and reflection are really important elements in my creative practice. I’m constantly learning how to listen! And, how we can communicate to one another – verbal communication isn’t the only kind, and it’s actually a joy to communicate outside the dominant language.

SW:  Why do you do what you do?

DC:I really appreciate learning and listening, being challenged, creative thinking, working with people who have a different perspective or way of experiencing the world, and sharing the findings with other people. 

SW: What is the craziest thing that’s ever happened on stage?

DC: I’m not sure if this is the craziest thing, but a favourite theatre experience of mine was seeing Gatz. The entire reading and retelling of The Great Gatsby over six hours. What a wonderful way to experience a piece of writing and theatre – the audience held together, all exhausted but engaged.

SW: What stage will you be seen on next?

DC: I’m developing a new work as part of Generate, a residency between City of Gold Coast and SITUATE. The work will likely not be on a stage at all – at least not in a traditional sense – favouring the outdoors. I’m also looking to tour a site-specific radio work with Melbourne artist, Dan Koop (who specialises in working in unusual venues and public spaces) to Castlemaine in Victoria in 2020.

Find out more about Daniele: danieleconstance.com.au