“At almost three hours, ‘Dear England’ is ambitious, but often overloaded by the sheer number of events since 2016...A frustrating evening, then – like seeing your team put in a solid defensive performance but fail to get any shots on target. But, of course, we still believe.”
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“The world is indeed a mysterious thing, as this quasi-shamanistic Southgate seems somehow to intuit...The play's extraordinary achievement is to suggest that this impossibly tall order may in fact lie within reach.”
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“ ‘Dear England’ is a big-hearted, technically dazzling celebration of football first and a critique of it second. If it was the other way around I wonder if it might feel a little more like a play for the ages. Graham’s best work is so improbably brilliant it carries the audacious rush of putting ten past the other team’s keeper.”
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"State-of-the-nation playwright James Graham brilliantly captures the blokey awkwardness within our wider national story."
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“Dear England falls short of some of Graham’s greatest works because it never quite nails its wider analogy about what Southgate’s achievements might mean beyond football; nor does it offer much insight into Southgate, beyond what is already available in the public domain...This might not be quite Total Football, but, just as Southgate said he wanted to do with the England team, the play will put a smile on your face.”
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“This is a thrilling piece of work, popular and political as Graham always intends his plays to be, and – appropriately – a consummate team effort.”
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“He shoots; he scores. James Graham’s fast-moving portrait of Gareth Southgate’s reign as the England football manager is a joyous example of populist theatre. There’s anguish, joy and a surprisingly generous helping of humour.”
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“As endearing as it is, the production, directed by Rupert Goold, takes time to really lift off the ground, focusing on story rather than drama in the first half – and it does seem like a game of two halves.”
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