Johnny Daukes writes and performs SQUID: A VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT, directed by Jessica McKenna, in Studio 2 at the Arcola Theatre from Wednesday 11 to Saturday 14 November 2026.
WHAT IS SQUID ABOUT?
For more than thirty years, writer and filmmaker Johnny Daukes unknowingly documented a story he could neither remember nor understand. Songs, scripts and films kept returning to the same themes, each becoming another fragment of an unwitting documentary, pointing towards a truth buried deep beneath memory.
As long-suppressed events began to surface, those creative works took on an extraordinary new significance, revealing not only Johnny’s history of childhood abuse, but the mysterious ways in which his mind had protected itself.
Following an exhausting process that came to a conclusion at the Old Bailey earlier this year, SQUID explores how art and music can preserve what memory has buried — and ultimately help bring it back into the light.
Blending live music, humour and storytelling, SQUID: A Victim Impact Statement is a true story about memory, creativity and an accidental search for catharsis.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Arcola Theatre is at 24 Ashwin Street in Dalston, London E8 3DL.
Tickets are £20–£29.
Performances:
7pm on Wednesday and Thursday
6.30pm on Friday
3pm and 6.30pm on Saturday.
The Thursday show is followed by a post-show talk hosted by Peter Curran.
The running time is 80 minutes.
Age guidance is 14+.
Content Warnings: Sexual abuse and Frank discussion of sexual acts.
Tickets are on the Arcola website.
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