Review: Dear England at the Liverpool Empire ****1/2

When Bill Shankly told a journalist that football wasn’t just a matter of life and death but was “much more important than that” he was articulating his total dedication to the game.

But he could just as easily have been giving voice to the feeling of generations of diehard England fans who have celebrated (and mythologised) the team’s highs and loudly mourned their many lows.

Pressure and expectation weighs heavy on the shoulders of every successive England squad, both men and latterly women.

And perhaps no one knows that better than Gareth Southgate, the softly-spoken, Shakespeare-namechecking, thoughtful hero of James Graham’s extensively researched, award-winning play Dear England – named after the open letter Southgate penned to fans/the country on the eve of the Covid-delayed Euro 2020 tournament.

Graham blends real events and fictionalised scenes to tell a story which isn’t only about the England men’s team’s resurgence under Southgate’s eight-year tenure as manager, but which is also a meditation on the state of the nation and the national psyche along with (at times uncomfortable) relationship with and allegiance to the flag of St George, as well as an exploration of emotional resilience, the complexities around male mental health and the wider concept of masculinity.

It means you don’t need to be a football fan to appreciate the many layered narrative, or indeed to get caught up in the excitement of the team’s revival.

It’s 2016, Britain has just voted for Brexit, and the bluff Sam Allardyce has stepped down 'by mutual agreement' from the England manager’s job after 67 days (and one win) following a spot of bother concerning player transfer rules.

Above: Samantha Womack as England psychologist Pippa Grange. Top: David Sturzaker as Gareth Southgate. Photos by Marc Brenner

Casting around, initially for a caretaker replacement, the various Gregs at the FA call on Gareth Southgate (David Sturzaker) - only to discover the former England defender has ambitions which transcend just being a temporary ‘port in a storm’.

Something has gone wrong with England, he tells them, and he is determined to discover what that is and work to fix it, his radical approach including the addition of probing psychologist Pippa Grange (Samantha Womack) to the backroom team, their joint mission causing conflict with some of its more traditionalist members.

Inheriting a dressing room of 11 rich young individuals who seem keener to bitch at rather than bond with each other, and still nursing his own crippling psychological burden of THAT missed penalty which crashed England out of the 1996 Euros, the calm, egalitarian, questioning Southgate slowly starts to rewrite England’s 'story' - beginning with the bogeyman of the penalty shoot out.

But can he succeed in exorcising his own demons as well?

This National Theatre tour of its own Olivier Award-winning production is a high-quality piece of theatre, slickly delivered by a large and dynamic cast who generate a wonderful kinetic energy (chapeau to the movement directors) on Es Devlin’s in-the-round set which is designed to evoke a football stadium.

Above: Dear England. Photo by Marc Brenner.

It’s not on a revolve but the choreography makes it feel as though it is, amplified by Ash J Woodward’s rolling video design which rises or runs behind the action and around an LED-illuminated angled halo above.

Football may be more important than life and death, but Graham’s script is laced with cheek and humour and the characterisation is keen – from those famous England names like Everton’s Jordan Pickford (Jack Maddison), Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling (Ashley Byam) and England captain Harry Kane (Oscar Gough) who get titters of recognition, to the supporting cast of backroom boys, ex-players, TV pundits, former managers, politicians and members of the public who whirl on and off, at times in Sunny Afternoon-style vignettes.

And while it’s perhaps inevitably testosterone-heavy, the Lionesses' Euro 2025 victory is also celebrated with the addition of a good cheer from Empire audience.

Above: Jake Ashton-Nelson as Jordan Henderson. Photo by Marc Brenner.

Since Dear England was premiered back in 2023, Southgate has moved on (and been knighted – arise Sir Gareth) and Graham has penned a new, reflective, almost elegiac epilogue introducing his successor Thomas Tuchel that has a flavour of the end of Alan Bennett's The History Boys.

It pushes an already quite lengthy running time firmly into Les Mis territory (2hrs 50 mins), and while the action is generally brisk, there are occasional scenes which test your endurance.

Opening night at the Empire aptly coincided with Premier League matches for both Everton and Liverpool - Everton beating Burnley at home, Liverpool losing to Wolves away.

City football fans (of both persuasions) have become known for a ‘Scouse not English’ ambivalence when it comes to the national team.

But it would be a shame to let that get in the way of enjoying what isn’t just a love letter to the ‘Beautiful Game’ (although it is that) but also a layered, thought-provoking and richly rewarding theatrical experience.