I, Daniel Blake at Northern Stage

Madeleine with Dave Johns actor, writer, comedian

“The state should represent the best in us not the worst”

Ken Loach 

As I write this I’m awaiting the outcome of the usual 2/3 yearly review and wait, to prepare for battle again to say the same thing as I’ve been saying for over a decade now. It is not an exaggeration to say it is a battle with the DWP for my ongoing dynamic disability.  The abuse is real, making me recount and go over some of hardest times of my life, making me replay them every few years. The ongoing trauma and setback to my progress this causes is insurmountable. But what do they care that each time they add another layer onto my C-PTSD?  About this much it seems.

The calculated inefficiency and cruelty of an abusive system, designed to kick you when you’re down, has not been so briliiantly protrayed since Ken Loach’s 2016 film was released:

‘Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) is a 59-year-old widowed carpenter who must rely on welfare after a recent heart attack leaves him unable to work. Despite his doctor's diagnosis, British authorities deny Blake's benefits and tell him to return to his job. As Daniel navigates his way through an agonizing appeal process, he begins to develop a strong bond with a destitute, single mother (Hayley Squires) who's struggling to take care of her two children.’

Source: Google

Dave John’s adaption from Paul Laverty’s screenplay, directed by Mark Calvert, for stage was just as hard hitting, if not more so because of the proximity of the characters to us, their audience; who represent so many thousands of us still in this very position, right now in 2023.

I, Daniel 07.06.2023

I was privileged enough to be able to afford to go to the theatre and watch this. They had £10 tickets for the first run and also gave free tickets out and supported a local food bank. Tickets are from £11 for this run as it returns for its second season this month (September 2023) at Northern Stage, before heading off to venues across the UK.

The performance was a comfort as much as it was traumatic due to my own lived experience, a different situation, albeit many similarities concerning my experience of the system. It made me feel less alone in my struggle, but was also triggering to the point of emotional breakdown.

Details like the ridiculous nature of the disjointed benefits system for example: being digital for one application and paper only for another, was unnecessary to portray here. This would have only taken away from the raw qualities, such as the set never changing much, highlighting the characters constant state of flux, juxtaposed against the static situation of being at the mercy of the state.

There are so many black holes in the awful system, so many a whole new play could probably be written about them, as a dark comedy, so we could all laugh (and then probably start crying because it’s the awful truth).

Dave Johns gave us these comedic moments to help divert us from the heavy reality, quite beautifully executed witin the portrayal of the characters and script.

The characters find themselves in the middle of everything, that chaos the official process adds to an already stressful situation when you find yourself with no place of your own. The set highlights that feeling of no real privacy, of all those aspects of your life monitored and poked at when it is ruled by the system; being in limbo and nowhere to call home as you once knew it. It brings with it a loss of control of self, identitty and belonging.

Add to that race and gender inequality, along with a dose of medical gaslighting and there's a whole new level of angst and abuse. The play is enough to leave us to imagine the rest, the bigger picture and its stories.

A broken phone screen or an ad boarding become one and the same visual metaphor for me

The sound effects such as the dull ringing tone felt like tinnitus ringing in the ears when on the verge of a panic attack. Other visceral sounds such as the heartbeat were a powerful addition too.

The terrifyingly brilliant job centre staff, played so true to how many of us have experienced them when at our worst health-wise.

The female perspective felt so relatable with the character, Katie Jenkins. A single mum, and in the stage adaption with one teenage daughter, both with possible ongoing trauma. Perhaps an underlying historical narrative, true to so many other women and their daughters; with any number from a myriad of back stories we could imagine. Perhaps a father figure or partner/s who had let them down or some kind of abusive history there. 

Sometimes I heard ‘Dad’ from Katie and sometimes I heard ‘Dan’ which really added to this element for me.

The sensitive way in which Daniel’s story ends, although sad, the way it was slightly different to the film with the use of the beautfiul shipping forecast music makes up for the way the system ruined Vivaldi for many of us. I have since purchased the classic BBC Radio Theme Shipping Forecast "Sailing By" composed by Ronald Binge in 1963, and performed by the Alan Perry/William Gardner Orchestra.

And the letter, read to us by Katie as in the film, this time standing centre stage, a solo voice, a powerful light from the darkness speaking for so many; again with such power and justified contempt for the system, still gives me goosebumps to this day.

The calculated cruelty and violence of an abusive system, designed to break the most vulnerable in society tunes the narrative to manipulate others.

I, Daniel Blake at Northern Stage until 16 September 2023

What a company. The cast did this story such beautiful justice. Heartbreaking, triggering, poignant, brilliantly punctuated with humour and totally beautiful. 

OFFICIAL FILM TRAILER:

“During the interval as I tried desperately to hold back the tears, 15 years of trauma came flooding out of my body, a visceral outpouring of emotion from the abuse endured every 2-3 years.  The waiting, the trepidation, ready for a fight, preparing for battle for your very being, to exist in a world of ableism and contempt for those who are economically inactive.”

Madeleine

Thank you, Ken Loach for realising this film, which has become a poignant reminder as a sign of our times and the society we live in. This is the UK as we know, live and breathe it and how it looks after its most vulnerable.

Little has changed since the film’s release in 2016. Dave Johns adaption for stage was just as powerful.

Important and vital stories for our cultural history proving the role of the arts in society as such a vital one.

Thank you for reading,

Madeleine