Dear England – Review – Sheffield Lyceum

By Clare Jenkins, October 2025

It’s four years since Gareth Southgate wrote his unexpected ‘Dear England’ letter to the country in the run-up to Euro 2020. Writing in the wake of the COVID pandemic, he offered his thoughts on what it meant and means to be English, and the England football team’s contribution to that national sense of identity.

They included the players’ pride in their country, their roles in terms of equality, inclusivity and race, and the pressures on them, not least from social media.

James Graham’s award-winning play Dear England, exploring all those issues, was first performed at the National Theatre in 2023. Now it’s back, updated to cover England’s loss to Spain in the 2024 Euros final, Southgate’s knighthood – and his handover to current England manager Thomas Tuchel.

The play doesn’t so much arrive back on the scene as explode back onto it. Es Devlin’s stunningly simple yet atmospheric set (a stage-wide luminous oval light hanging over the bare stage, videos and photos sometimes swirling around it), together with Jon Clark’s lighting design, take us straight into a packed football stadium. Here, in the 1996 Euro semi-finals, England lost to Germany when Southgate missed the deciding penalty. As he does so, the noise of the crowd and the deafening music build to such an intensity, ear protectors should be placed on every seat.

That loss, and the psychological effect of it, influenced Southgate’s revolutionary approach to the task of England manager, controversially bringing in psychologist Pippa Grange (an effectively calm, low-key Samantha Womack) to alter the players’ perceptions of the game and of themselves. That radical approach resulted in England reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, and the finals of two more Euros.

“Fleet-footed”

Dear England – superbly directed by Rupert Goold, with Connie Treves credited as revival director – follows the transformation of the team from swaggering lads to reflective men. Southgate himself (a seemingly tireless David Sturzaker, onstage throughout and perfecting that puzzled, deep-in-thought look) journeys from slightly geeky, reluctant player-manager to assured, waistcoat-and-suit-wearing philosopher-manager.

Along the way, issues such as tough backgrounds, racism, abuse, Brexit, the true meaning of the English flag – and, of course, of masculinity and leadership – are all skilfully sketched. Though, on the political side, they do include some rather curious Spitting Image-style appearances by three Tory ex-Prime Ministers (May, Johnson, Truss). But it’s generally as quick-witted as it is fleet-footed, light of touch as well as touching.

From the start, movement directors (aka choreographers) Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf ensure that the show is supercharged with energy, even when the action is in slow motion. The players recreate – always athletically, almost balletically at times – their on- and off-pitch moves, kicking and heading imaginary balls, taking part (nerve-rackingly) in heart-racing penalty shoot-outs, vigorous training sessions, messing around in changing-room dance routines.

Each player has his own identity, imitated without being caricatured: the hard-working, unassuming Harry Kane (Oscar Gough), the even-tempered campaigner Marcus Rashford (Jayden Hanley), the passionate anti-racist advocate Raheem Sterling (Ashley Byam), Jordan Pickford, the fired-up goalie (Jack Maddison).

“Inner fears”

Here, it’s not just the goalkeeper’s fear of the penalty that’s faced, but everyone’s. And Southgate sets out to change that fear – both for his likeable players and for the backroom staff, which includes Steven Dykes as Physio Phil (one of five roles he plays) and team analyst Mike Webster (George Rainsford, channelling his inner Steven Gerrard).

Everyone earns their place in this squad, including the subsidiary (often fast-costume-change) characters: Courtney George as both TV pundit Alex Scott and Lionesses’ manager Sarina Wiegman; Ian Kirkby also in five roles, including a languid Gary Lineker, a droll Sven-Göran Eriksson and new manager Thomas Tuchel, who urges Southgate to concentrate on his many successes rather than on any perceived failures.

As such, the play demonstrates it’s not just about football. There’s a much bigger picture here: of facing your inner fears and feelings, keeping motivated, redefining leadership, strength and self-belief, even perhaps what it means to be human. And the way in which a football team can unite a nation in joy, grief – or anger.

As such, it’s very much an ensemble show – and an exhilarating one, as the first night’s standing ovation, complete with a rousing rendering of Sweet Caroline, showed.

Next up: a play about the England women’s football team? As Natalie Boakye’s Lioness says during her cameo appearance, holding aloft the 2025 UEFA European Women’s Championship trophy: “The men were fighting the high expectations – we fought the low expectations’.

‘Dear England’ is at Sheffield Lyceum until Saturday, in Leeds from Nov 4th to 8th, then continues its nationwide tour
images: Marc Brenner

Clare Jenkins( Writer )

Clare’s dream is to live in a hotel suite, safe from the bother of boiler breakdowns and crashing computers. Thanks to her husband Stephen McClarence’s work as a national newspaper travel writer, she’s been lucky enough to stay at hotels across the UK, India and many other countries – and has loved (nearly) every minute. As a journalist herself, she was a regular contributor to Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour for over 20 years and has made features and documentaries for Radios 3 and 4. She’s also a former theatre reviewer for The Stage magazine and, with her husband, co-author of Teatime at Peggy’s: A Glimpse of Anglo-India.

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