Stage version of Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake heads to Leeds Playhouse

Johns, the stand up comedian who unexpectedly became a film star thanks to Ken Loach’s coruscating, visceral film that attacked the benefits system and explored the desperate lives of people locked in it, has turned I, Daniel Blake, into a stage play.

“I’d done the film and it was my first adventure into film,” says Johns. “It took us by surprise, the impact that the film had. I’d never heard of a foodbank until we started making the film, day one was the first time I’d heard of them. And I think where we were filming in the area there was one foodbank, now there’s something like 10 to 14 around the Newcastle area.”

Johns was plucked out of, if not obscurity – he had been making his living as a well respected circuit stand up comedian for decades – he certainly didn’t seem to be heading towards film stardom.

“I was a stand up comic, jobbing comic doing gigs, a friend of mine told me about Ken Loach making a film in Newcastle,” he says.

“I’d done a play in Edinburgh, and my mate said they’re looking for someone your age to be in a Ken Loach film, so I sent a text saying ‘Hi my name’s Dave Johns I’m a 50 year old comic, Ken Loach is looking for someone to be in a film and I’d like to meet him.’ I thought it’d be cool to meet Ken, the man who made Kes. But I didn’t think any more than that.

“When he offered me the part, I didn’t know It was the lead, then I was told the name of the film and that I’d be playing the lead character.”

He was cast as Daniel Blake and it was the beginning of an extraordinary telling of an all too common story.

“At Cannes film festival, the film just hit a nerve. It was insane being on the red carpet and all those thousands of people, being at parties with Juliette Binoche. Donald Sutherland walked over to me at one point and he gets within a few feet and goes ‘Dave’. I didn’t know what to do so I just went ‘Donald’. He knew who I was; it was insane.”

While being lauded on the red carpet was a thrill, Johns knew that Loach had a bigger purpose for the film than winning awards.

The rawness of the desperation of Katie, the young single mum who Daniel Blake befriends is difficult to watch, so difficult that Conservative deputy chairman at the time, James Cleverly, was moved to dismiss the film as ‘a work of fiction’.

Since the release of the film, Johns has gone on to become a bona fide film star; he recently wrapped a film in Europe due for release early next year, but he has clearly been infused with the Ken Loach spirit and desire to tell the stories of people whose stories are not always told.

It’s why he’s adapted I, Daniel Blake, for the stage.

“I met the screenwriter Paul Laverty and Ken back in 2019 and said ‘what would you think about me adapting it for the stage?’ I just felt like we could use the story to say something more about where things stand today,” says Johns. “I’m very aware of the enormity of what I’ve taken on. Every day for the last seven years I have had someone speak to me about what this film means to them.”

Loach has given his seal of approval. He says: “This story is more relevant now than ever and who better to put it on stage than Dave Johns, the original Daniel Blake?”

It is an impressive adaptation and the iconic scene where Katie succumbs to her hunger in a foodbank remains a gut-punch as hard as it is in the film.

“I didn’t just want to put the film on stage, I wanted to update the story for 2023, making it contemporary and exploring more of single mum Katie’s journey and to show the kindness, compassion, humour and hope that can help us through the toughest of times.

“Sadly, during my research it was disheartening to find not much had changed since the film’s release. The story is as relevant as it was in 2016, maybe even more so now. This story could be anyone’s.”

At Leeds Playhouse, October 3-7. Tickets leedsplayhouse.org.uk