England have become used to failure in the men’s team, with 58 years since our last international professional tournament win. With The Lionesses seen by many as far outshining their male counterparts, how can the men’s team hope to finally bring home the silverware, especially in the year of Euro 2024?
Dear England is an account of the premiership of Gareth Southgate, manager of the England men’s football team, and how his leadership resulted in improving England’s tournament performances, despite still not bringing home a trophy. It takes us on a transformative journey, and how the game has changed in the past decade, as well as the challenges players have faced, including dealing with their mental wellbeing, racism in football and their attitudes towards other issues including the LGBTQ+ armband fiasco in Qatar, all whilst being outshone by The Lionesses.
I went into this viewing with a strong idea as to what I would think of the production, the story it’s telling and wondering whether this show was necessary at all to be made. But sitting through it, whilst I’m still curious as to why it was this story they chose to tell, I can honestly say that I was mistaken. This production was fantastic. It passed all of my expectations, and I found myself strangely enamoured with almost every aspect. From the brilliantly crafted visuals and lighting design, to the use of the stage and the minimal set pieces, and the plot and direction of storytelling as a whole, I really enjoyed this, much more than I was ever expecting to. There were definitely elements that I think could have been explored more, with a very heavy focus on Southgate himself, but it honestly didn’t matter – the show hooked me the entire way through, and even as a non-football fan (besides The Lionesses of course!), I thoroughly enjoyed this show.
Whilst on the subject of Southgate, Joseph Fiennes’ portrayal of the England men’s manager is powerful, complex and incredibly similar to the manager himself. He plays this role in such a calm, collected way that even puts the viewer at ease, let alone the players he’s talking to. I found his performance very good, and you could feel every emotion that he was showing. A great performance, and potentially award-winning if I may! Opposite Fiennes is Gina McKee as Pippa Grange, the psychologist brought into the England camp when Southgate took over. She, like Fiennes, is such a calming figure, and for a person I had never heard of before the show, she felt like an aunt or grandparent you can confide anything in, and her effect on the players is visible. Another great performance, and I cannot wait to see where she goes next! Finally, a mention has to be given to Will Close as Harry Kane. His performance is dry, flavourless, wooden and incredibly dull…which is a near-perfect replica of the man he is imitating! You find yourself giggling at everything Close says as his performance is as similar as you could get, you’d think it’s Kane himself!
Dear England caught me way off guard. And there’s not much more that I can say except go and see this screening for yourself if you haven’t seen the show! It’s definitely worth your time!
Rating: ★★★★★
Dear England played at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End until January 13th, and is now showing in cinemas
