By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 14 October (matinee), runs through 13 January 2024 RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

As the men’s England football team prepares for a crucial EURO 24 game against Italy on Tuesday (17 October 2023), James Graham’s latest play about Gareth Southgate’s reign as manager transfers to the West End.

• Read on for reasons including how this West End production has changed from its National version

We caught a preview at the National in June and below we look at what has changed since then and criticism of friends who have also seen this show.

Dear England was recently longlisted for 3 2023 monstas in September for best actor for Joseph Fiennes as Southgate, best new play and best supporting actor for Darragh Hand (For Black Boys, Apollo Theatre) as Marcus Rashford.

Dear England transferred from the 1,160-seater Olivier Theatre to the 1,727-capacity Prince Edward Theatre in Soho and author Graham said on X, formerly Twitter that it was the 1st play at this venue which traditionally hosts musicals since the end of World War Two.

We’re at the end of the 3rd row and have a terrific view of the stage which keeps its halo lighting rig and revolves but we would imagine the views from the back of this beautiful auditorium are less good than the rake at the Olivier although the screens at the back of the stage appear improved.

Gina McKee played plain-speaking psychologist Pippa Grange in the original National run and is replaced by Dervla Kirwan (Jesus Hopped The A Train, National Theatre) here and we warmed far less to her character than McKee’s ‘hugely insightful and comic turn’.

We praised Adam Hugill for embodying Harry Maguire at the National and this transfer certainly loses something by not having him play the role here in the West End.

Many of our friends have enjoyed Dear England on our recommendation and we thought it might be interesting to chew over some of their criticisms of Graham’s work here.

One felt its canvas was too big and that it lost a great deal by trying to be too ambitious and cover too much ground by its inclusion of politicians taking penalties and meaty subjects such as rainbow armbands for LGBTQ rights and taking the knee against racism.

It’s a criticism we understand and we did feel that the play’s length had been curtailed since the preview we saw and that the emphasis was firmly on the play’s main theme which is the importance of mental health and dealing with men’s difficulties to be open about it.

Another felt the characterisation of England’s captain Harry Kane as uncharismatic was unkind but, for us, in many ways this is the most moving element of the dramatisation.

Fiennes’ Southgate chooses as his leader on the pitch a player who could be described as closest in personality to himself, reliable and honest but not with the flair of those he followed.

Southgate finds recovery after his EURO 96 penalty miss in the support and teamwork he has encouraged in a squad which questions what playing for England really means for them.

England’s football team is rarely out of the news and its broad reach means the subject matter of this play is likely to resonate with an audience much wider than that normally touched by theatre.

Best new play of the year? We think so.

• Main picture by Marc Brenner via Facebook courtesy DMT Tickets
• Have you ever seen James Graham play before or been to the Prince Edward Theatre? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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