Dear England Review
- leejamesscriven
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
The highly acclaimed Dear England kicked off its run at MK theatre chronicling the real-life journey of Gareth Southgate’s leadership of the England men’s football team.
Football is often quoted as writing its own scripts, the drama, tension and excitement of the beautiful game is downright emotional
Trying to transfer those traits from a pitch to a stage is a huge task, but Dear England does so with aplomb. Football meets theatre? It’s not a combination you’d expect and that’s exactly why it works so effectively. It’s not about goals and glory; it’s about identity, pressure, masculinity, and the weight of a nation’s expectation.
The Lions roar in James Graham’s play, directed by Rupert Gold it engagingly portrays Gareth Southgate and his heroic nearly men of England.
The set design by Es Devlin is a brilliant combination of being modern, very simplistic and very effective. Most scenes take place on a football pitch or behind closed doors at training sessions and in pre- and post-game moments.
And take it from me, having spent over 20 years in professional football, the play’s boot room banter, boardroom politics and emotional turmoil are spot on.
As in football, you do need stars to shine and David Sturzaker as Gareth Southgate was brilliant, but like any manager he was backed up superbly by his team. Ie in this case all the cast and crew.
It is a remarkable play on so many levels. Like the game it so brilliantly portrays, it takes risks, possesses real tangible tension, celebration and emotional devastation.
In doing so, it reminded me why I love football, love my dear England and love theatre!
In a word: Glorious!
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