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Post by vdcni on Jul 29, 2023 16:46:16 GMT
It's an enjoyable night out but it didn't really have any convincing things to say about the state of the nation. The only time the English team did break into that wider conversation was during the Euros and that was during the much weaker second act which didn't really make the most of the opportunity.
Lack of riots, agree that the 2022 World Cup was tainted and less prominent, also many of the worst fans have been sidelined by the more open, very anti racist focus of the current team but being in Winter rather than Summer likely had the biggest effect.
I don't think this was one of Graham's stronger efforts. Not as bad as Quiz but no This House.
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Post by lynette on Jul 29, 2023 17:15:40 GMT
I thought the message was that post Empire, post WWI and II, post the huge upswing in living standards and the cultural domination of the 60s ( ‘66 football win) , and now post brexit and everything else.. England should accept it isn’t Number One nation. Graham is addressing the residual ‘look at the red places on the world map in every classroom’ generation and perhaps that BBC Olympic game show, aren’t we wonderful thing and asking us to see that we are now diverse racially and ethnically and performing on most stages round about the middle of the table level. Sport does show this up. If anything, a bit ‘soft’; there was a bloke on the telly talking about the cricket saying of course it is the winning that matters. Well, of course, it is. Graham is trying to remove the entitlement from the England ethos.
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Post by Latecomer on Jul 29, 2023 18:45:51 GMT
I didn’t think this was about football at all. Or necessarily about the state of England today. It was about what stops us trying do do things….that fear of failure. As such it can apply to anything and anyone. So it’s about therapy really and understanding ourselves. And being kind to others and the beauty of being vulnerable and how your background can stop you achieving your full potential.
Like This House was about friendship across the class divide and honourable ways of living and how far we will go before we actually stand firm to a good way of living? Not actually about politics. .
I think Graham is a very clever man!
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Post by Rory on Jul 30, 2023 7:46:03 GMT
Rumours on another thread that this may be transferring to the Prince Edward.
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Post by Jon on Jul 30, 2023 8:31:18 GMT
Rumours on another thread that this may be transferring to the Prince Edward. If this turns out to be true, I will need to start buying lottery tickets!
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Post by theatremiss on Jul 30, 2023 20:31:43 GMT
Rumours on another thread that this may be transferring to the Prince Edward. They’ll have to change the set I’d have thought
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Post by barelyathletic on Jul 31, 2023 11:19:41 GMT
I saw this on Saturday and absolutely loved it. I'm not a huge football fan, only following the Euros and World Cup without a huge amount of knowledge (I can, to the surprise of some of my friends, explain the offside rule), but this was about so much more; masculinity, mental health, the pressure of dealing with success and failure, racism, politics, history, hope, the building of a 'band of brothers" and yes, "Dear England". It's beautifully staged and directed, wonderfully acted, richly funny and emotional. It has a lot to say about the state of our nation and is an absolute triumph for the National and everyone involved. One of the best things I've seen in ages and certainly now among my all-time favourites. If you haven't seen it, don't miss it when it returns next year.
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Post by n1david on Jul 31, 2023 14:42:03 GMT
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Post by thistimetomorrow on Aug 2, 2023 10:10:03 GMT
Really really enjoyed this. I have very very minimal football knowledge, basically only knew that England lost in the Euro Finals (I didn't know anything about the penalty curse, I had barely heard of half the footballers before, literally spent the interval googling which of them were real or made up lol), but this was very accessible with no background knowledge.
I wonder if any of the real counterparts have seen the show? I believe Gareth Southgate has been, but for the players, it must be very surreal to have a whole play made about you.
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Post by midge on Aug 2, 2023 17:05:12 GMT
Much like others, I was so pleasantly surprised by this. The performances were fantastic, and the staging was often very impressive. I sometimes find Graham's dialogue to be contrived and a tad overwritten, and this definitely had moments of that. The pacing was all over the place, but I enjoyed it as it reminded me of watching my beloved Tottenham Hotspur. I thought the impressions were hilarious, accurate and not as annoying as I was expecting.
With the recent discourse over Henderson joining Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq, I thought the scene with Kane and the armband would have a bit more weight, but it really didn't. It felt shoe-horned in and had no real place in the narrative. Did it even mention it was a Pride armband for LGBT rights? I could be wrong, my attention did wane when I realised we were only going to see like 5 minutes of the last world cup.
Still, a solid show, nice to see lots of younger males in attendance seeing potentially their first piece of theatre.
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Post by lolasangel on Aug 2, 2023 17:26:11 GMT
Does anyone know why some mid Stalls seats are sold as ‘Very Restricted View’ on the website? They are £30 but seem quite central seats. I have spotted O25 and K34/35. Just wondering what the restriction is and how bad it really is.
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Post by fiyero on Aug 2, 2023 17:47:58 GMT
Does anyone know why some mid Stalls seats are sold as ‘Very Restricted View’ on the website? They are £30 but seem quite central seats. I have spotted O25 and K34/35. Just wondering what the restriction is and how bad it really is. For tonight? It’s a filmed performance so behind a camera I assume.
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Post by theatremiss on Aug 2, 2023 17:51:30 GMT
Does anyone know why some mid Stalls seats are sold as ‘Very Restricted View’ on the website? They are £30 but seem quite central seats. I have spotted O25 and K34/35. Just wondering what the restriction is and how bad it really is. 2 days worth of filming I think
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Post by theatremiss on Aug 4, 2023 22:57:10 GMT
Well as someone obsessed with this play, I made my 4th visit tonight. Although I got nothing for next week with today’s Fri Rush, I’ve not given up hope of a 5th visit.
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KP
Auditioning
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Post by KP on Aug 5, 2023 9:06:16 GMT
The remainder of this run is sold out but if anyone has recommendations on how to get a ticket to Thursday's performance (10 August) I would really appreciate it. My boyfriend is moving to the UK that day and I've always thought seeing this play would be the perfect way to kick off his life in England (he's a huge football fan and I am converting him to becoming a huge theatre fan). He's moving a few days earlier than planned so we actually have a chance to see it before it closes. We have one ticket but I need to find another. I am constantly refreshing the NT site hoping to get lucky. Do any of you have tips that could help me be successful - for example, are return tickets more likely to show up at certain times of day? Or a ticket for that night that you're not using? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me.
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Post by andrew on Aug 5, 2023 10:00:43 GMT
The remainder of this run is sold out but if anyone has recommendations on how to get a ticket to Thursday's performance (10 August) I would really appreciate it. My boyfriend is moving to the UK that day and I've always thought seeing this play would be the perfect way to kick off his life in England (he's a huge football fan and I am converting him to becoming a huge theatre fan). He's moving a few days earlier than planned so we actually have a chance to see it before it closes. We have one ticket but I need to find another. I am constantly refreshing the NT site hoping to get lucky. Do any of you have tips that could help me be successful - for example, are return tickets more likely to show up at certain times of day? Or a ticket for that night that you're not using? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me. So you've missed Friday Rush which was probably your best bet, the Friday before the week you want the ticket they'll put up a handful of seats for cheap. Your remaining options: - Religiously check the NT website, I don't know if a particular time is better than others but the box office opens at 9.30 so between then and the end of the working day, most likely in the 9.30 - 10.30 slot if I had to guess - Turn up on the day of the performance in the morning at the box office looking for a day seat, the numbers of these aren't guaranteed and there will likely be some length of queue for something that's sold out. I think they start selling these at 10am but double check, obviously the earlier you queue the more likely you'll get something - Standby tickets go on sale 60 minutes before the performance again from the box office in person, no guaranteed numbers and again it's first come first served, I've never tried this way so I don't know if you can turn up significantly earlier to queue Good luck!
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Post by meister on Aug 5, 2023 12:58:49 GMT
Anyone know if the play text is due to be published?
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Post by bram on Aug 5, 2023 16:43:46 GMT
A smashing funny moving play. Superbly acted and directed. Excellent v
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Post by dr on Aug 5, 2023 17:27:49 GMT
Anyone know if the play text is due to be published? Overheard in the NT Bookshop: There likely won't be a playtext, due to the use of real words from public figures (including, presumably, Gareth Southgate). I imagine it's difficult to obtain consent or rights for that, so no playtext for now. A real shame though - hopefully they can sort something before a potential transfer!
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Post by AddisonMizner on Aug 5, 2023 19:59:56 GMT
I went to the matinee today (5th August), and thought that it was absolutely incredible! I know nothing about football, and went purely as a fan of Graham’s work. Some of the jokes and impressions went over my head, but what I love about Graham’s writing is that it doesn’t expect you to know anything about the game, and gives you everything you need to know, but not in a contrived way.
However, as others have said very eloquently on this board, the play is not really about football at all. It encompasses so many things - toxic masculinity, mental health, the fickleness of fan culture, the history of England and what it means to be English. Ultimately though, it is about the fear of failure, how we deal with trauma and the benefits of therapy. I loved the arc of the story, as we start with Gareth Southgate looking back on his penalty miss. This is then the spectre that haunts him throughout the rest of the play. He thinks he has been given the chance as England manager to make up for this mistake. What he, and we as the audience realise by the end is that this is in fact not really the reason at all, but instead to make sure that no other player has to deal with the same trauma, that has essentially defined Southgate’s whole career. It leaves us with the message to be kind to one another. Kindness is the enduring route to success.
This is helped by Joseph Fiennes wonderful performance as Southgate. It didn’t feel like an impersonation at all, but a real embodiment of the man.
Graham is a master dramatist. How he structures his pieces is always impressive to me, and particularly here with how he turns this episodic story into something with dramatic cohesion. We see in the first act how he builds up the team with his completely new philosophy, and how this leads to success in Russia. In the second act, how we then see that start to slip away, as he almost abandons this philosophy, resulting in a parting of ways with Pippa and the detrimental effect this begins to have on the team, before he then sees the light again. How we weaves key moments through the bigger tapestry is also impressive. All the key ones from the past few years are here - Covid, racism hurled at players during the Euros, the taking of the knee, the Lioness World Cup win, the wider political landscape and the steady parade of prime-ministers from Teresa May to Boris Johnson to Liz Truss as well as the wearing of the armband for LGBTQ+ rights at the 2022 World Cup to name but a few. None of these feel shoe-horned in though, and just a natural part of the narrative.
The 3-hour running time flew by. I laughed (a lot) and actually teared up at other moments. I felt quite emotional at the end of Act 1.
I really liked the set and overall staging too. It was quite breathtaking at times. The use of the projections and neon circles almost creates the awe-inspiring expanse of Wembley Stadium. How the actors moved between scenes with chairs and set pieces was almost balletic, and how they often sit in unison at the start of a scene reinforced the idea of a team. The use of music also really lifted it.
It would be a crime if this did not transfer and have a further life. I can see this having a big commercial appeal. My dad for one would love this, and I can’t wait to hopefully take him if DEAR ENGLAND does make it to the West End.
An easy 5 stars, and perhaps the best thing I have seen so far this year. I loved it!
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Post by Rory on Aug 5, 2023 20:35:58 GMT
Your review is spot on, AddisonMizner. I saw the matinee on Wednesday which was being filmed for NT Live and thought it was absolutely sensational. I completely agree that Joseph Fiennes embodied Southgate and the staging was breathtaking. It was State of the Nation, a play for now, with topics of relevance to everyone, whether football fans or not. I would love my teenage sons, who are football mad, to see it, to see what it has to say about sport and life, and to be thoroughly entertained. It was gratifying to see so many young folk there and I saw grandads with grandsons in raptures about it at the end. I was completely swept up in the emotion of it all. With this and The Motive and the Cue, the National has surpassed itself this year. I could see Dear England being a colossal stonking great hit at the Prince Edward in October with a bit of luck and a fair wind (or if we must, at the NT again next year with an immediate transfer to the Gillian Lynne hopefully).
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Post by Jon on Aug 6, 2023 0:03:36 GMT
James Graham is going to be on BBC Breakfast next week, I think if it transferring it'll be announced then.
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Post by Rory on Aug 6, 2023 6:09:09 GMT
James Graham is going to be on BBC Breakfast next week, I think if it transferring it'll be announced then. Yes, I saw Jon Kay's tweet and that's exactly what I thought. Unless JG has something new to announce.
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Post by theatremiss on Aug 6, 2023 6:59:18 GMT
If this transfers I’ll be bankrupt. I’m actually obsessed. If it goes into the Prince Edward I wonder if Fiennes would go with it? I read somewhere that him and his family live in Spain so he’s been away a long time if it’s true. I can’t imagine the show without him
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Post by theatremiss on Aug 6, 2023 13:45:05 GMT
I very much doubt Dear England will transfer to the Prince Edwards as in the theatre's history a play has never been staged there. I predict it will go back to the Olivier next year with a possible West End transfer - possibily to the Gillian Lynne - soon after once Standing on the Sky's Edge has closed. Has next years Olivier program not been sorted already? If it’s going to get a second run I would imagine before next years Euros would be most lucrative and the Euros start mid June. I hope so anyway as Im signed up to go to the Euros and I’d like to be able to see Dear England before then.
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Post by Rory on Aug 6, 2023 14:34:43 GMT
I very much doubt Dear England will transfer to the Prince Edwards as in the theatre's history a play has never been staged there. I predict it will go back to the Olivier next year with a possible West End transfer - possibily to the Gillian Lynne - soon after once Standing on the Sky's Edge has closed. True about there never having been a play there, but I would think Dear England, which is an absolutely epic play with an epic set and buckets of commercial appeal, would have a much better chance of filling it than a musical about the Temptations. Anyway, social media handles have been created for the play and a website registered so it's transferring somewhere at some point!
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Post by londonpostie on Aug 6, 2023 16:27:32 GMT
Doesn't a Neil Diamond sing-a-long count as a musical ..
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Post by Jon on Aug 6, 2023 17:14:41 GMT
In regards to the Prince Edward, while it's true it's never had a play, we've seen plays taking residence in traditional musical houses like One Man, Two Guvnors at the Adelphi, Harry Potter at the Palace to name but two so I don't think it's as farfetched for a play to run at the Prince Edward.
I would imagine that a couple of rows will likely be removed if they want to recreate the set they had at the Olivier
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Post by Rory on Aug 6, 2023 21:24:11 GMT
James Graham is on BBC Breakfast tomorrow.
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Post by lynette on Aug 6, 2023 23:26:53 GMT
Going to US?
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