13 – 24 June
In 2016, I, Daniel Blake, the story of a widowed 59-year old Geordie joiner struggling through the red tape of the benefits system after he is deemed unfit to work by his doctor but denied Employment and Support Allowance, premiered to rave reviews. The film won the Palme D’or at the Cannes Film Festival, and a BAFTA Award for Best British Film. It remains director Ken Loach’s best commercial success in his career. These accolades might set the bar high for the 2023 stage version, written by original leading man Dave Johns, but this piece (adapted to the more contemporary cost-of-living crisis) soars. It is a masterpiece.
The play’s director Mark Calvert said that it was important to show audiences a new take on the “ramifications of the last 12 years of government on people’s lives”. And this does. It feels fresh, timely and that makes it all the more painful to watch, as there is no distance offered – temporal, geographical, emotional. This is happening now, on our doorsteps, in our Job Centres, in our parliament.
Throughout, quotes from working politicians (and a certain bigwig who not so long ago lost his prime position) appear on a large screen at the back of the stage, stylized as tweets, but with the real audio playing and a disclaimer below each that “This isn’t something they tweeted. They actually said it!” Emphasis on the exclamation mark. This is but one example of the clever multimedia design of the show, not only making it more accessible for d/Deaf or hearing-impaired audiences with closed captioning embedded into the set design, but enabling greater immersion for everyone. We are bombarded by the truth of this polemic.
To single out any of the cast isn’t right, as while the titular Dan stands at the story’s centre – and is played with deft timing, equally comedic and heartbreaking, always relatable, by David Nellist – each is vital to this success. Through an accidental meeting at the Job Centre, Dan is drawn into the lives of single mother Katie (a compelling, powerful Bryony Corrigan) and bright young thing Daisy (Jodie Wild, full of vim). His neighbour China (Kema Sikazwe) has money-making ambitions. And the ensemble (Janine Leigh, Micky Cochrane) show us snapshots of bumbling bureaucrats, the unhoused, and more. Each of them delivers. Only in a moment of artifice, a little choreographed movement of set-shuffling, does the connection almost break. The rest of the time, you are thoroughly convinced you know these people. You do know these people.
I feel like I’m waffling. I could praise thousands of little moments: the set design feels purposeful and elevated without pretension, the pacing’s some of the best in the business, there’s some cracking jokes… It’s very, very good. Please go and see it.
★★★★★ Will Amott 15 June 2023
