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Last night, 14/11/23. I was invited to review the touring production of ‘I, Daniel Blake’ - on its last week on tour at the Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford. And now, after wiping away my tears, I am going to give you my thoughts on it.
As a northerner, this already had my name written all over it (not literally, as my name is not Daniel Blake) but the topics and themes discussed and portrayed were just so real and honest that it truly is a momentous piece of theatre that I believe should be seen by more people.
‘I, Daniel Blake’ follows a Geordie man (Daniel Blake) who struggles to finally get the appeal date for his work benefits, as well as struggling single parent Kate and her daughter Daisy. The two parties face further issues throughout the play and the entire thing is a complete emotional rollercoaster.
The show’s use of projected tweets by politicians were extremely effective within this piece because everything they were saying was very clearly not being delivered and this was shown just beneath it on the stage. The play as a whole is such an eye-opener for those who just don’t understand / haven’t witnessed these experiences, and to those who have it is a clear and truthful representation of such.
Daniel Blake was played beautifully by David Nellist. This was an outstanding performance in every sense of the word and I will be greatly shocked if he is not nominated for awards following this. Every word was delivered with such honesty and truth. A perfectly created character, masterfully portrayed.
Bryony Corrigan plays ‘Kate Jenkins’ a struggling single mother who doesn’t know where to turn. The emotion brought to the stage by Bryony was unmatched and left me sobbing on plenty of occasions throughout. Each theme was approached with so much care and consideration and fantastically executed.
Overall, if there is a word I’ve used a lot in this review it is ‘honest’. But that is because ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is honest. The play is done with such a great sense of honesty - from the cast, from the staging and from the script - every single aspect is honest and truthful. I walked away from this play, not only wiping tears from my face, but feeling a sense of political injustice. These are experiences that are happening on the daily and there needs to be an end put to it.
This production of ‘I, Daniel Blake’ deserves nothing less than 5 Stars and I urge you if you have the chance, go and see this show.
14-18th November 2023
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford
15th November 2023
Robbie Davies | Robbie's Backstage Bants
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