I, Daniel Blake

I, Daniel Blake is a play that was written by Paul Laverty and directed by Dave Johns. It is a tragicomic drama that explores the lives of two people, Daniel Blake and Katie, who are living in poverty in the UK. The play won the 2016 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was co-produced by tiny dragon Productions, Northern Stage, Birmingham Rep, and ETT, in association with Cardboard Citizens.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 88 pages
Publication date: 01 June 2023
Publisher: Nick Hern Books

I, Daniel Blake, am a citizen, nothing more, nothing less. Dan is a carpenter. A Geordie through and through. He had a heart attack recently, but he's on the mend now. Katie has just arrived from London. She's finally got a council flat, somewhere for her and her daughter, Daisy. A fresh start.

In adversity, people come together. But when the system is stacked against you, how does anyone get by? With 14.5 million people (Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2022 Poverty Report) living in poverty in the UK, this is not fiction. It is reality.

I, Daniel Blake was originally a film – directed by Ken Loach, written by Paul Laverty and produced by Rebecca O Brien for Sixteen Films – which won the 2016 Palme d Or at the Cannes Film Festival. This touching and vital stage adaptation by Dave Johns, who played Dan in the film, toured the UK in 2023, co-produced by tiny dragon Productions, Northern Stage, Birmingham Rep and ETT, in association with Cardboard Citizens.

A gut-wrenching tragicomic drama… Paul Laverty's brilliantly insightful script finds much that is moving (and often surprisingly funny) in the unbreakable social bonds of so-called broken Britain.

Guardian on Ken Loach's film

Weight: 110g
Dimension: 128 x 200 x 10 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781839042492
Edition number: stage version