National Theatre Live: Dear England

Film title

NT Live: Dear England

Synopsis

The game of football famously originated in England, a matter of national pride that leads fans to chant at every Euros and World Cup that ‘football is coming home’. However, the England men’s team hasn’t won an international professional tournament since 1966 and has the worst track record for penalties in the world. Playwright James Graham reimagines the squad’s most memorable and stinging moments of recent years in this dramatisation staged by the National Theatre and recorded live. Focusing on the premiership of Gareth Southgate, the team’s manager from 2016 until 2024, the play journeys through the team’s quest to up their game, while also questioning attitudes to mental wellbeing, masculinity and racism. The staging cleverly manages to evoke both locker rooms and stadiums, bringing the charged atmosphere of these spaces into vivid relief. But at the heart of this reflection on ‘the beautiful game’ is a fascinating study on leadership and teamwork.