Dear England review: James Graham ‘hits the back of the net’ once again
This ‘wildly entertaining romp’ gives a vivid sketch of the England team before Southgate took over

Since 1966, the England men’s football team has had an unerring ability to dash a nation’s dreams, said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out. So a play about the squad’s supposed “resurrection” under manager Gareth Southgate feels “potentially hubristic” – and at risk of “dangerously overhyping a gifted man who still hasn’t taken home any actual silverware”.
But fear not. As a playwright, James Graham has long displayed the world-beating form that still eludes England on the biggest stages. He has made “genuinely classic work” out of such unlikely subjects as “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”, and parliamentary whips’ offices in the 1970s. And with “Dear England” – a “wildly entertaining romp” given a pulsating staging by Rupert Goold – he has “hit the back of the net once again”.
The staging is “thrilling”, and Joseph Fiennes gives a performance of “almost AI-grade exactness” as Southgate, said Quentin Letts in The Sunday Times. Some of the characterisation, however, is cartoonish: Harry Kane, Gary Lineker, Greg Dyke and many others appear in no more than amusing caricature.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The play’s title, said Susannah Clapp in The Observer, alludes to an open letter Southgate wrote to fans in 2021, pleading for a “more generous” and “interesting view of what the country could be”. Graham gives us a vivid sketch of the mess the team was in before Southgate took over: seldom winning, yet still considering itself a “top talent”. That Britain could be floundering as a result of a similar “sense of inherited privilege” is a point he does not need to batter home. As someone who doesn’t follow football, I came into Dear England feeling at a possible disadvantage. But by rousing the blood and raising the stakes – and showing the possibilities of change – Graham and Goold “won me over”.
As in any match, “there are some misses”, said Sarah Hemming in the FT. The play packs in too much, covering everything from racism to Covid and Qatar. But overall, it’s a “glorious, generous, rollercoaster” of a play that makes for an “exhilarating” evening.
Olivier, National Theatre, London SEI (020-3989 5455; nationaltheatre.org.uk). Until 11 August. Rating ****
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful north
The Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful north
The Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashion
In the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – a ‘comfort’ watch for fans
The Week Recommends The final film of the franchise gives viewers a chance to say goodbye
-
The Paper: new show, same 'warmth and goofiness'
The Week Recommends This spin-off of the American version of The Office is ‘comfortingly and wearyingly familiar’
-
Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons – ‘riotously colourful’ works from an ‘exhilarating’ painter
The Week Recommends The 34-year-old is the first artist to take over Dulwich Picture Gallery’s main space
-
Born With Teeth: ‘mischievously provocative’ play starring Ncuti Gatwa
The Week Recommends ‘Sprightly’ production from Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe
-
Art review: Lorna Simpson: Source Notes
Feature Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, through Nov. 2
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is more
Feature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more