Dear England

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Dear England description

About Dear England

Love the beautiful game? Cheered your way through every England game for the last few years? Dear England is a sell-out play about the heroic England football manager Gareth Southgate, the pressures players and everyone else feels when working in the elite sport arena, and the powerful role the England team played in the national psyche.

Written by James Graham, this production opened in 2023 at the National Theatre in London, at the Olivier. It starred Joseph Fiennes and was directed by Rupert Goold. Now the National Theatre has announced that this critically acclaimed play is transferring to the West End’s Prince Edward Theatre for a strictly limited run of 14 weeks, beginning on 9th October 2023.

If you’ve ever wondered how Gareth Southgate helped change the old-fashioned, toxic notions of masculinity on the England team, and what the impact was of the open letter he wrote to England fans in 2021 during the covid pandemic, this one’s for you.

What's the story of Dear England?

Dear England kicked off at the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre, London, on 10th June 2023. It starred Joseph Fiennes as Gareth Southgate, who reprises his role for the transfer, and will once more be directed by Rupert Goold.

Expect to experience the England team’s three famous tournaments, all of which fell apart despite the team being so good. The thrilling run to the semis at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the heartbreaking defeat during the 2020 European Championship final at Wembley, plus the quarter final tragedy at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. We see the young Southgate missing the infamous penalty back in ’96, which contrasts sharply with the support and love given to Harry Kane when he missed the equally infamous penalty years later at the Euro 2020 final, held in 2021.

You’ll see the reactions of the public, including on social media, and watch as Southgate selects his squad, including Harry Kane, Harry Maguire, and Marcus Rashford. When the psychologist Pippa Grange arrives to help with training sessions, encouraging players to face their fears by keeping journals and talking about them, the culture of the beautiful game is clearly changing for the better.

Emotional drama is the name of the game as the players develop under Southgate's leadership and take terrifying penalties. It documents the shameful racist abuse experienced by black players after the loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final in 2021. And it’s funny as well as dramatic thanks to the comic treatment of former England managers Sven-Göran Eriksson, Graham Taylor, and Fabio Capello, plus Gary Lineker, Matt Le Tissier, and the antics of prime ministers May, Johnson, and Truss.

Who is starring in Dear England?

Grab some good quality theatre tickets for Dear England to see Joseph Fiennes reprise his role as Gareth Southgate. The rest of the cast will be confirmed nearer the time.

Who is on the Dear England creative team?

The Movement Directors are Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf and the Set Designer is Es Devlin. The Costume Designer is Evie Gurney and Jon Clark is Lighting Designer. Sound Design comes from Dan Balfour and Tom Gibbons. The Video Designer is Ash J Woodward. The Casting Director is Bryony Jarvis-Taylor and the Producer is the National Theatre.

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Playing at Olivier Theatre (National Theatre) (venue info)

Performance Times for Dear England