Review: I, DANIEL BLAKE, Stratford East

I, Daniel Blake was the film on everybody’s lips in 2016. Written by Paul Laverty and directed by Ken Loach, it saw a man from Newcastle having to fight the system tooth and nail to receive Employment and Support Allowance after a severe heart attack. It’s a political, heartbreaking, life-affirming movie that angered politicians and validated the common people. Adapted by Dave Johns - who played Daniel Blake on screen - the stage show is equally powerful, but imperfect.

We witness a man’s slow-motion fall into despair. As he tries to uplift and help his new friend Katie, a single mum who’s been moved to the North of England from London due to housing availability, he grows increasingly more frustrated with the procedures installed by a careless government. Ludicrous comments taken from the speeches and addresses of infamous prime ministers and MPs appear in the back in the style of tweets, breaking up the series of terrible ads and billboards that promise a “better Britain”.

This directive choice by Mark Calvert is probably the highlight of the production, acting like a constant reminder that, while the piece is a work of fiction (as reiterated in one of the aforementioned extracts at the very start of the play and then at its end) it’s solidly set into reality. From the impersonal and barbaric unwillingness of the scheme to bend and adapt to people’s actual needs to the dismissive nature of the Job Centre staff, Johns extrapolates the core feelings of the motion picture and puts them on a stage. Designed by Rhys Jarman with drab colours and shelving that looks like they’ve come straight from a sad storage unit, it’s a faithful adaptation, but it perhaps retains too much surplus material and one too many fluffy scenes.

There’s an extensive collection of hard-hitting moments that come alive through exciting performances, but the script falls into occasional slumps and redundant reiterations. Certain conversations between the characters are obviously meant to humanise them, but what happens when the roles already come from the most human of starting points? You get a case of void repetition and a slack in pace. The villains of the story are the civil servants who keep referring to Daniel and Katie as “customer users” and mention calls from the “decision makers” as the only actions that can move along their case, stripping everyone of their humanity.

David Nellist is Daniel Blake. With piercing sarcasm and a heart of gold, he introduces a proud, hard working man who believes in the goodness of people. His understated performance is peppered with some stiffness here and there, unfortunately resulting in a few wobbles that make it come off as a bit artificial. He’s supported and lifted by Bryony Corrigan’s riveting portrayal of a mother pushed to drastic choices by the ruthless side of society. She steals the show, delivering an empathetic look at selflessness and unconditional love for her daughter Daisy (Jodie Wild, who’s definitely too old for the role but brings out all the maturity of a child who was forced to grow up too quickly). 

With a running time of two hours with an interval, the plot is very much the same as the original material, though some characters have been trimmed, but, as a play, it’s a tad too long and could have been condensed some more.

Nevertheless, it remains a harrowingly lifelike tale of friendship born in the darkest hour between two people who have been miserably failed by the system. The greatest tragedy, however, is the fact that the political state of the country has got progressively worse since the film premiered.

I, Daniel Blake runs at Stratford East until 28 October, and then Royal & Derngate, Northampton (31 October-4 November), Belgrade Theatre, Coventry (8-11 November) and Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford (14-18 November).

Photo credit: Pamela Raith Photography

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