Review: Dear England (New Wimbledon Theatre / UK Tour)

Review by Sam Waite

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In less than three years, James Graham’s Dear England has already cemented a legacy that looks poised to continue for years to come. Beginning at the National Theatre before opening in the West End, Graham’s play returned to the National in 2025 ahead of its still-ongoing tour, which arrived this week at the New Wimbledon Theatre. On paper this is a play about football, and more specifically about former England manager Gareth Southgate, but in this latest incarnation it is clearer than ever that Dear England is a play about the nation, and about our collective emotions.

We meet Southgate in late 2016, when he is drafted in as a temporary manager and still best remembered by many for his infamous penalty fumble in 1996. Even before he is made permanent manager, Gareth wants to bring new ideas to the way England plays, beginning with enlisting psychologist Pippa Grange to bolster the players’ emotional connections, and introducing the radical idea that losses in the immediate future can be part of a bigger plan to eventually win at the 2022 World Cup.

As intelligent a playwright as he is a highly gifted one, Graham relies on collective knowledge of this still-recent history only for setting the scene and a number of comedic interludes. Instead of walking Wikipedia articles, his England squad are realised as authentic, lived-in characters, and his Southgate and Grange carry particular weight. Ahead of the show’s return to the National, the launching ground for this tour, a new ending was penned by Graham to reflect a real-life change since Dear England’s debut – the retirement of Sir Gareth Southgate – and he successfully matched the tone of what came before, transforming his already stellar script into a total encompassing of Southgate’s time in the role.

Playing a well-known figure from history is already a challenging task, and David Sturzaker is the latest to tackle the Southgate role while the man himself is still alive and well. Sturzaker, welcomely, sidesteps much of the impressionist possibilities of the role and instead creates a Southgate all his own, boosted by his onstage chemistry with Samantha Womack’s Dr Grange. Womack’s role in more definitive in how it calls for being performed, and she does a remarkable job of injecting it with a sense of freshness while staying true to what it required. Meanwhile, Sturzaker carries the bulk of the production on his shoulders, and his deeply human, largely new take on the character proves definitively that Dear England and the fictional Southgate have the makings of a decade-spanning classic.

There’s also strong supporting work, and an ensemble who rotate briskly and brilliantly between an endless array of characters. From a hospital patients to influencers, butchers to brides, and a handful of oft-mocked politicians along the way, no cast member fumbles a single opportunity for a laugh in the handful of “on the street” sequences letting us into the public’s opinions. Steven Dykes brings a warmth and depth of feeling to Phil, the team physio who is dubious but accepting of Gareth’s new-fangled ideas, while the likes of Courtney George (Lioness Alex Scott, among others) and Liam Prince-Donnelly (Dele Alli) are utterly compelling in their roles.

In an effort to not write a novel-length review I won’t list ever acting achievement to be found, but will take a moment to commend, in particular, the actors portraying the England squad, each of whom finds moments of genuine humour and heart in their work. Of course, mention must be given to Oscar Gough, tasked with the already Olivier-winning role of England captain Harry Kane. With a quality difficult to put into words, he finds new shades to the air-headedness often associated with Kane, and finds rich nuances in his more tender scenes, particularly a touching final moment alone onstage with Sturzaker.

Es Devlin’s set design has remained untouched – of course, it needn’t be when the initial work is so impressive. The tilted discus of a stage, mirrored by a ring overhead through which scores, penalty results and even chant-along song lyrics are displayed is as striking now as when the show debuted, and the minimalist lockers-as-entrances design still a smooth way to transition in and out of the team’s changing room. While tour revival director Connie Treves has done a remarkable job in helping to shape and meld the new performances, Rupert Goold’s original work has been left, wisely, as is. Assisted by movement directors Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf, the work is always visually exciting, the team presented as in a constant training session even when remaining largely covered from view.

Despite remaining the same through the current tour, the show’s West End run, and both its stints at the National, I would be remiss to not give proper attention to Dear England’s outstanding technical work. Stadiums across several countries come to life in the lighting and video work of Jon Clark and Ash J Woodward, respectively, and the auditorium becomes a roaring crowd thanks to immersive sound design from Dan Balfour and Tom Gibbons. Balfour and Gibbons also help to create moments of great fun with football anthems blaring through scenes, as well as powerful moments where the like’s of Stormzy’s “Crown” and The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” bring a cinematic quality to the proceedings. Aided by tear-away costumes courtesy of Evie Gurney, there’s also a spectacular pseudo-striptease moment which is both an electrifying reveal of the squad in their full regalia, and a truly brilliant use of Robbie Williams’ “Let Me Entertain You.”

With a nearly three-hour runtime, I’m fascinated to find that on this visit (my third, across three separate venues and three different casts) the show still never drags, never threatens to sag under its colossal weight and leave its cast to drag it across the finish line. Every element is so precisely crafted, every beat so firmly connected to the next, that the show’s finale runs little risk of overstaying its welcome or leaving an audience less than delighted.

In creating Dear England, James Graham set out to capture not only Sir Gareth Southgate’s considerable achievements in “the impossible job,” but the explore the national psyche which football often seems to be a guiding beacon for. In this writer’s opinion, he succeeded in these goals, and has created something which can – which should – be seen as a true theatrical achievement.

Dear England plays at the New Wimbledon Theatre until February 28th before playing its final dates in Liverpool and Birmingham

For tickets and information visit https://dearenglandonstage.com/

Photos by Marc Brenner