Theatre review: I, Daniel Blake at Northern Stage is more relevant now than it ever was

The release of Ken Loach’s film I, Daniel Blake contributed to an atmosphere of defiance in Newcastle in 2016. As a teenager just finishing my A-Levels everything felt like it was about to change: I was about to go off to university, there was political unrest thanks to the Brexit vote and we all, wrongly, thought Jeremy Corbyn was going to be the next Prime Minister

After the film’s premiere, a staunch criticism and exposure of the UK’s benefits system set in Newcastle, people thought it would instigate change. We were ready for it; hungry for it. But, instead, Paul Laverty’s screenplay was brushed off by the government. The then-secretary of state of work and pensions, Damian Green, adamantly claimed it was “a work of fiction.” And fittingly, those words open and close Northern Stage’s adaptation.

With all of its outrage and atrocity, I, Daniel Blake at Northern Stage proves itself to be more pertinent now than back then. The idea of hope and change was trumped by the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis. In seven years society has regressed and the play defiantly acknowledges it.

The story is more pertinent now than it was then, and there lies the central tragedy. Adapted by Dave Johns who plays the titular character in Ken Loach’s version, the play sets off on the same journey, ripping the benefits system apart through the lives of those held hostage by it.

This time, David Nellist takes the helm as Dan Blake, the familiar, lovable and selfless character epitomising the audacious Geordie way. What’s more compelling on the stage is how the story uses Blake as a narrator, tracking the highs and lows with strength despite his body struggling post-heart attack and hope bleeding out as he’s prematurely forced back to work by the state.

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Significantly, Mark Calvert’s direction sees both the audience and Blake find optimism in the same and only place. Blake willingly becomes a side character to the central source of light in the production: Katie and her daughter Daisy.

The misplaced pair, forced to move from London to Newcastle due to housing shortages, are the beating heart of I, Daniel Blake. In the darkest moments of squalid conditions, benefits sanctions and starvation, their nurturing relationship is the lifeline to keep us all adrift.

I, Daniel Blake is a reminder that the kindness and empathy of people is sometimes the only thing keeping people alive. It’s essential viewing and a necessary form of art.

Following a sold-out opening run at Northern Stage (25 May - 10 June), the production will tour to Birmingham Rep (13 - 25 June), HOME Manchester (27 June - 1 July) and Exeter Northcott Theatre (5-8 July), before returning to Northern Stage (12-16 Sept), then Liverpool Playhouse (19-23 September), Gala Theatre, Durham (26-30 Sept), Leeds Playhouse (3-7 Oct), Oxford Playhouse (10-14 October), Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh (17-21 Oct), Theatre Royal Stratford East (24-28 Oct), Royal & Derngate Northampton (31 Oct - 4 Nov), Belgrade Coventry (8-11 Nov) and the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford (14-18 Nov).