THIS IS REALITY...

As the eponymous hero in Ken Loach’s multiaward-winning film, I, Daniel Blake, comedian, actor & writer Dave Johns won the hearts of people across the world. So when he was asked to adapt the story for a stage show, he jumped at the chance.

The film’s story follows Dan, a fiftysomething Geordie, who has worked his whole adult life as a carpenter. After suffering a heart attack so serious that his doctors tell him to give up work, he turns to the state for support. But his benefits claim becomes a Kafkaesque nightmare in which he receives anything but help.

Along the way he befriends Katie, a young mother from London, who has been offered social housing in Newcastle. Like Dan, she also finds the welfare state to be anything but benevolent.

Dave, whose previous stage adaptations include The Shawshank Redemption, was keen to bring these characters to the theatre.

“What interested me was taking Paul Laverty’s lovely script from the film and trying to adapt it for the stage,” he says. “That was the challenge and the excitement. I didn’t want to just put the film on stage.

“When I made the film in Newcastle, working with Ken Loach, none of us realised what an impact it would have. When the film was released in 2016, it caught the imagination because the time was right and it was a very human story.

“I wanted the stage show to have the same emotional power as the film but bring it up to date, so that it wasn’t a history piece. So I started doing some research about what was different - and nothing was different! With the cost-of-living rise, foodbanks, austerity, it’s affecting even more people now. There are so many people just trying to make ends meet.”

The film and the stage show aim to go beyond the statistics to the real lives of people down on their luck.

“When the film came out, the narrative from Government was that anyone who was on social security or was claiming benefits was not bothering to work and were scroungers. And the film showed how these things happen to ordinary people. What shocked people was that it could be your father, your daughter, your sister, your mother. Dan wasn’t a shirking scrounger, he was just an ordinary bloke, and the system wasn’t set up to help him or to help Katie.

“The rhetoric was that if you’re on benefits, you’re not trying and you’re not contributing to society - but society doesn’t take into account how you get into that situation. The film showed this uncaring face of the state; the way it was set up was that they were making it as hard as possible for you to navigate the benefits system.”

Dave has made some changes to the tale for the stage show, which opens in Newcastle this month and comes to Birmingham Rep’s Studio space in mid-June.

“It’s an ensemble piece and the story is told by six actors. It’s basically Dan’s story as you think of it in the film, but I’ve written up Katie and the kids’ part in the play. We get a much more rounded idea of where Katie comes from and why she’s been sent from London up to Newcastle.

“I think audiences will get a more visceral emotional hit from the play than the film because you’re right there in the room with the actors and the action. It’s living and breathing, but there is humour as well. Both Dan and Katie have a good sense of humour, so there are moments of light relief. When you are faced with adversity, the one thing that keeps us all sane is a sense of humour.

“You have to have those moments of light relief because the harsh reality of how bleak their lives are would be too much to bear. So you will laugh and you’ll cry - that is what I hope is good theatre.”

But when Dave is so synonymous with the part of Daniel Blake, didn’t he want to reprise the role in theatres?

“The funny answer would be that I won lots and lots of awards for Daniel Blake, and I don’t want them to take them off me if I make a mess on stage!

“But actually, I think you do a piece of work and you’re proud of it, and I will always be proud of Daniel Blake. I have people who come up to me who recognise me and say how much that film meant to them and how much it moved them. But since then, I’ve gone on and done other films and projects, so I wasn’t tempted to recreate the role of Daniel Blake on stage.

“And we have a fabulous cast. When we put the call out for six actors, we had more than 700 submissions. The cast we have are very talented, and it’s going to be a different take on it.”

Taking the role of Dan is David Nellist, who played Mike Stamford in BBC’s Sherlock. Katie is played by Bryony Corrigan, who is best known as Vanessa in Mischief Theatre’s BBC series The Goes Wrong Show. The production also has a new score composed by Ross Millard of The Futureheads.

Produced by Northern Stage, Birmingham Rep, ETT, Oldham Coliseum and Tiny Dragon Productions, directed by Mark Calvert and designed by Rhys Jarman, the stage show has some new theatrical elements.

“We have been very influenced by Led By Donkeys, who take Government tweets and project them onto the Houses of Parliament and posters,” says Dave. “We’re working with a company who will be doing projections. So there will be a narrative, a story in tweets, of what the Government policies have been, and then, on stage, there will be Dan and Katie’s lives, their experience of it. So you can judge what the Government is saying in tweets and what is happening in reality.

“I hope audiences will feel a connection with the people who are going through these problems, and that they will be angry when they go out after seeing the show. Theatre has a power to do this, to give people a human bond with what is happening on stage. The skill of good theatre is that you emotionally grab people, you entertain them, and if you impart some knowledge to them, then you go out changing their ideas of the world - and that’s the perfect thing.”

Food news from across the region...

EL&N Café to open at Bullring this summer

EL&N Café will open at Bullring and Grand Central this summer.

Known for its iconic flower walls, pink interiors, stunning latte art and delicious patisserie, the café & lifestyle brand will take an 8,000sq ft unit next to Zara.

The café will serve a menu packed with ‘Instagrammable’ drinks, including a pink Turkish Delight Hot Choc, Ruby Lattes and Chemex Strawberry Mojitos. Cakes, Afternoon Tea options and EL&N Café’s classic all-day brunch selection also feature.

Burger Fest returns to Birmingham venue

Popular street-food event Burger Fest returns to Birmingham this summer. Taking place on 3 June at The Bond in Digbeth, the annual get-together promises a fun-filled day of indulgence and entertainment.

The line-up includes some of the city’s most popular burger street-food traders, including: Original Patty Men, The Patty Freaks, Stripclub Streetfood, Nanny Bill's, The Flying Cows, Meat Meets Bun, Disco Fries and BA-HA (vg).

Dan Lee residency at Hockley Social Club

MasterChef: The Professionals winner Dan Lee has announced a semipermanent residency at Hockley Social Club (launching on 1 June and running until 1 October).

Described by celebrity chef Marcus Wareing as ‘a star in the making’, Dan will produce a menu featuring dishes such as Hainanese Chicken Rice, Siu Mai, Char Siu Bao, Chicken and Pandan Broth and Hong Kong Ice Milk Tea.

Event specialists Digbeth Dining Club (DDC) have unveiled details of their summer tour around the West Midlands.

The tour runs until September and visits some of the most idyllic settings across Birmingham, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country. Traders taking part include the award-winning Greidy’s, Beef On The Block and Fat Snags. Resident DJs and special guests will also be in attendance.

Commenting on the tour, DDC co-founder Jack Brabant said: “For 11 years we have grown and expanded our offering to make the events that we put on as accessible as possible for as many people as we can. This year is no exception, taking in more sites and hopefully delivering fun to even more people across the region. “We go where the people are, and the new sites - Sutton, Sandwell and Bearwood - came off the back of public requests. So we spoke to the people in charge of the sites, and we all agreed it was a good idea to explore these and give people what they want.”

For full event listings and to buy tickets for any of DDC’s summertime stop-offs, pay a visit to: digbethdiningclub.com

Grace & Savour at Hampton-in-Arden’s Hampton Manor now boasts a Michelin star.

The coveted accolade is awarded to restaurants that provide outstanding cuisine.

Set within a Victorian walled garden and under the leadership of Head Chef David Taylor, the venue offers a 15-course tasting menu that places farmers and growers ‘at the forefront of dishes served and stories told’.

Since opening, Grace & Savour has certainly made a significant splash. As well as the Michelin star, the eatery has also received four AA Rosettes, been included in The Good Food Guide’s Top 20 Most Exciting Restaurants for 2022, and been named the UK’s Best Restaurant in the SquareMeal Awards 2023.

Classical music from across the region...

British Police Symphony Orchestra

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Sat 20 May

A charitable voluntary organisation comprising serving and retired officers, staff, and other members of the wider police family, the British Police Symphony Orchestra here presents Ravel’s La valse and Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony. Sandwiched between the two is Shostakovich’s iconic Piano Concerto No2, performed by guest soloist Daniel Tong. The concert’s musical director is Dr Richard Jenkinson.

CBSO: Mahler’s 10th Symphony

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Thurs 18 May

Gustav Mahler died before finishing his 10th symphony. Although substantially complete in the form of a continuous draft, it was only the first movement that could be played in the way the composer had intended.

Almost 50 years after Mahler’s death, and on the cusp of celebrations to mark the

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Tues 16 May centenary of the composer’s birth, musicologist Deryck Cooke, in association with Berthold Goldschmidt, set about producing a ‘performing version’ of the unfinished draft...

Making a first-ever stop-off in Birmingham, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra open proceedings with a performance of one of their countryman Arvo Pärt’s best-known works, Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten.

They then perform Dvorák’s Seventh Symphony.

The evening’s programme is completed with a performance by Barry Douglas of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No3. The Gold Medal winner at the 1986 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, Barry last contributed to a Birmingham classical season 14 years ago. He is here stepping in for Freddy Kempf, who has had to pull out of the concert for personal reasons.

It’s the Cooke version of Mahler’s 10th that the CBSO perform here, in a concert conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (above).

City of Birmingham Choir

Elgar Hall, Bramall Music Centre, University of Birmingham, Sat 13 May

The ever-impressive City of Birmingham Choir make a welcome return with a concert featuring a programme of lesser-known works by four established composers. The evening’s entertainment begins with Benjamin Britten’s The Company Of Heaven, combining poetry, spoken word and a dramatic vocal score. The choir then turns its attention to Cecilia McDowall’s Ave Maris Stella. Susan Spain-Dunk’s exquisite Suite For Strings and Gerald Finzi’s stirring miniature, Magnificat, complete the bill.

Sutton Coldfield Choral Society

Emmanuel Church, Wylde Green, Sat 13 May

Sutton Coldfield Choral Society crown this month’s coronation week with ‘an evening of uplifting music’.

The society will be performing John Rutter’s Magnificat - together with some celebratory settings from his Psalmfest collection - and the Benjamin Britten cantata, Rejoice In The Lamb. The concert is conducted by Richard Mason, who has led the choir for 30 of its 50 years.

Piccadilly Sinfonietta

St Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham, Sat 13 May

The critically acclaimed Piccadilly Sinfonietta here take on the challenge, by candlelight, of performing Italian Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi’s most famous work... Portraying both dramatic and serene scenes of spring, summer, autumn and winter in a pastoral setting, The Four Seasons’ concertos are nowadays familiar not only to classical music afficionados but also the wider public, thanks to regularly featuring in popular culture. In fact, according to IMDb, the composition has been used, to one degree or another, in at least 100 different films and television shows.

BCMG: TREE Concert

Birmingham Town Hall, Fri 12 May

This exploration of the connections between nature and humankind sees Birmingham Contemporary Music Group performing a programme which includes the world premiere of Christian Mason’s new Sound Investment commission, The Singing Tree.

The textural ‘Concertini for ensemble’ by Helmut Lachenmann also features...

The concert is part of a wider project that includes multiple activities and workshops for young musicians.