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James Graham’s Dear England is not a show about football. Before managing the English national team for nine years, Gareth Southgate’s playing career can be defined by one kick of a ball — a penalty miss in the UEFA Euro 1996 semi-final that binds the events together in a narrative which carries all the energy of a pulsating Premier League derby, while also taking the time to explore its true themes: mental health, fear, and the fragmented society we live in.
Since its premiere at the National Theatre in 2022, Graham has significantly rewritten Act 2. While this ended on a bittersweet but also somewhat open-ended finale, taking place after the Qatar World Cup, we now get a more final and resolute ending with Southgate handing the torch over to his successor, Thomas Tuchel.
Most significantly, the second act also focuses more on the horrific racism received by Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the 2020 Euro finals. This is given huge dramatic weight in a sequence about the connotations of the English flag and the belief that “some people don’t want us on the team”, a thought echoed by Raheem Sterling, brilliantly played with defiance by Ashley Byam. We also get cheeky nods to the political times of England with Boris Johnson and Theresa May making appearances, alongside the COVID pandemic of 2020.
Credit Marc Brenner
Following in the footsteps of the brilliant Joseph Fiennes, David Sturzaker equally matches his predecessor with a performance that deftly balances pathos and sincerity. When we first meet Southgate, he is demure, articulate and has a subtle geekiness to him. Despite having the mannerisms and vocal intonation, Sturzaker’s performance is more than just an imitation. His slow reveal of the psychological pain that he and his generation of players bottled up after the 1996 loss is delivered with real emotion. It’s a tough balancing act of a role, but Sturzaker handles this with aplomb.
The rest of the cast is on fine match-day form, with Samantha Womack providing an understated calmness to Pippa Grange, the psychologist whose job is to provide wisdom and mental health awareness to the team. We also get plenty of entertaining representations of people we know and (depending on who you support) love: Oscar Gough’s grounded Harry Kane grows into the story, becoming more than just a simple parody of his public persona, whilst also providing a great sense of comic timing. There is also impressive work from Jack Maddison’s energetic Jordan Pickford and Ian Bartholomew’s everyman Steve Holland.
Despite the show’s heavy cultural and social themes, Dear England is not a heavy show. Under the assured and dynamic direction of Rupert Goold, the play has a pulsating energy. The opening act, which sees Southgate recruiting his squad and detailing the six-year timeline to the Qatar World Cup, gives the show the urgency of a war story. Kudos also goes to the football and training sequences, which have a real sense of energy and physicality, by Co-Movement Directors Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf, with special mention going to the tense and vulnerability-inducing penalty shootout sequences that plague England’s football journey.
Special mention must also go to Es Devlin’s incredible set design. With its luminous ovals surrounding the space, it can be easy to suggest that this represents Wembley; however, on second viewing, I found that the suitably sparse design highlighted the sense of aloneness and fear that the players are inhabiting. At the center of the drama is a powerful discussion of men and mental health and the scrutiny that our players are under. Like all brilliant writing, the show can be about whatever you want it to be — does the set represent a football ground, the penalty spot, or the inner void that haunts its players and manager?
Clocking in at just under three hours, it is undoubtedly a long show, and Act 2 does not have the resolute structure of its former. However, just like Gareth Southgate himself, Dear England is sincere, complex and daring to tackle subjects rooted at our country’s core! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Written by Alex Farley on behalf of The Theatre Flyer
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