Dear England - NT Olivier / Prince Edward Theatre / Lowry

A smashing funny moving play. Superbly acted and directed. Excellent v

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!

James Graham is going to be on BBC Breakfast next week, I think if it transferring it'll be announced then.

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

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!

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 

Going to US?

West End from October seemed to be dropped into the interview a couple of times on BBC Breakfast just now but without saying where / making an announcement!

Huge achievement. I expect this to do very strong business.

Runs until 13 January per Mark Shenton on Twitter with press night 13 October.

MJ opens on 06 March so surely time for a slight extension in there?

But hang on aren't musicals the leylandi of theatre that are taking over the west end ?