Daniel Fernandez
Theatre
Daniel Fernandez is an Auckland-based award-winning performer and director. He first studied drama in the city of his birth, Madrid (Escuela Cuarta Pared), and continued in Granada (Escuela Remiendo) where he explored improvisation, drama, Comedia D’ll Arte, clowning and cabaret.
He arrived in New Zealand in 2012. Starting in community theatre (Fawlty Towers, The Peace Plays - Rose Centre), he soon got involved in professional theatre work (Women with Swords, Ay Carmela, The Wall) and live events. In 2021, he won the Spirit of Fringe Award as a performer in La Guitarra (TAPAC, Auckland). The Tender Trap (TVNZ) was his first film in New Zealand, released in 2021, and he has appeared in The Luminaries and the Power Rangers - Dino Fury series.
As a theatre artist, he feels moved by the power of theatre as a tool for social change, which has led him to explore different theatre environments, from playback theatre to devised theatre. He has always been characterised for an intuitive use of the stage and for his physicality to create unique characters.
Daniel founded Babel Theatre, after participating in the project Culture Clash (TAPAC 2017), with the aim of using cultural diversity as a creative tool and to bring untold stories to the stage. In 2017 he directed and devised the short play The Apple (Judges Award of the Short & Sweet Festival), based on experiences in customs and immigration at international airports. In 2018 he directed and also performed his first long theatre piece, Ay Carmela, a play about the human cost of war, based on the play by the Spanish writer Jose Sanchis Sinisterra. In 2020 he directed The Wall, his first fully devised piece based on real stories of migrants, with a cast of 25 performers.
Being a migrant actor living in Auckland since 2012, he has a great interest in migrant dramaturgy, storytelling and empowering unheard voices.