Dear England at the National Theatre
Much intrigue surrounded Dear England when it was initially announced by the National Theatre. On a theatrical level, it brought together a brilliant playwright in James Graham and equally brilliant director in Rupert Goold. On a dramatic level, it left theatregoers pondering how a play focused on the national football team could “work” in a theatre. Pleasingly, it is theatrically brilliant, but, surprisingly, it is dramatically weak.
In Dear England, Graham focuses on Southgate’s journey from caretaker manager through his team’s performance in the three most recent international tournaments.
The flat first half primarily focuses on Southgate (uncannily and deftly portrayed by Joseph Fiennes) transforming the institutional milieu of how the club operates with the assistance of psychologist Dr Pippa Grange (Gina McKee) with a special focus on individual and team mental health and penalty taking.
Unfortunately, this breeds dramatically spiritless classroom scenes where Southgate and Grange coach the players through exploring their emotional side, much to the uncomfortably comic disapproval of mansplaining team management member Mike Webster (Paul Thornley).
The second half, though, is where the play comes to life, as the successes Southgate has created come with added pressures and despicable reactions, not least the racist backlash towards Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final.
Even such a moment as that though – which, in reality, must have been bristling with conflict – is respectfully depicted but not fully mined, leaving the unshakeable feeling that the script is the key element contributing to the play feeling, to paraphrase the infamous footballing cliché, a play of two halves.
Fortunately, the visual dynamism of the play, spearheaded by Es Devlin’s gorgeously symbolic Wembley Arch-depicting set and visually alluring movement sequences (with the invaluable help of Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf) ignite the production and, indeed, the audience.
These invigorating aspects spur them to celebrate along with every high the England team experience. Though they were initially muted during moments when the fourth wall was broken in the first act, they finally seem to have understood the central tenet promoted by Southgate and the play: both actors and audience are a team where each is dependent on the other.
By the end, the cast, aptly, receive a rousing reception akin to a World Cup celebration, so, unlike the nation’s beloved football team, all weaknesses are overlooked and Dear England hits the back of the net.
Francis Nash
Image: Marc Brenner
Dear England is at the National Theatre until 11th August 2023. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.
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