Dear England: Critics say Gareth Southgate play hits the back of the net

Theatre critics have said that Dear England, a new play about the England men's football manager Gareth Southgate, has hit the back of the net.

The play, starring Joseph Fiennes as England boss, opened on Tuesday evening at London's National Theatre.

It's inspired by Southgate's journey since his infamous penalty miss at Euro 96, and how he helped change notions of masculinity for today's team.

The Telegraph said the Shakespeare in love actor "mesmerises" as Southgate.

Its reviewer Dominic Cavendish awarded five stars, adding that playwright James Graham - whose screenwriting credits also include Quiz, Sherwood and the Crown - also "brilliantly captures the blokey awkwardness within our wider national story".

"What starts as a useful recap of how Southgate has reengineered the England squad's sense of itself (as well as its personnel) builds not only into a gripping drama but one that valuably glances at the confusions of our wider national story," he wrote.

"Fiennes played the Bard in Shakespeare in Love, and achieves a mesmeric intellectual intensity, hands deep in pockets or delicately gesticulating, that makes Southgate seem almost like Shakespeare's inheritor, weaving dreams for us all," he added.

"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," he wrote. "There's anguish, joy and a surprisingly generous helping of humour."

Dear England, which takes its title from Southgate's open letter to fans, focuses not only on penalties but also touches on the racism aimed at black players for missing them, the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.

"There's a touch too much politically correct preaching in the final quarter," Davis noted. "And I could have done without the political caricatures of [former prime ministers, Theresa] May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Graham makes his points about the power of solidarity and compassion eloquently enough through what he shows us of Southgate himself."

What's on Stage gave another five-star review, with its writer Sarah Crompton calling it "the beautiful game in a beautiful play". The fear of the penalty, she said, is "the thread that binds the play together".

"It's a thrilling piece that you hope might just convince theatre fans of the importance of football, and football fans will see to understand just how exciting theatre can be," she wrote. "What the production has in abundance is both energy and tenderness."

She added: "Graham is clear-eyed about the brutality of the choices and burdens of professional sport, and he doesn't exempt Southgate from criticism. Occasionally the writing gets bogged down in incident - the woman next to me was confused by the details of the ban on OneLove armbands in Qatar - and in its own metaphors.

"But as a drama, it is utterly absorbing, full of twists and turns, vivid characters, proper conflicts, and great lines."

However, she offered only three stars and said she had one or two reservations. "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," she added.

"There is power in seeing the story of football told on the biggest stage of the National Theatre, with rousing moments in the second half, and it is beautiful from start to finish in its optics. So it scores, ultimately, even if it does not quite bend it like Beckham."

Dear England features portrayals of Southgate's star players, as well as sports psychologist Pippa Grange.

Graham and Goold's take on England's recent highs and lows received a four-star review from The Evening Standard's Nick Curtis, who described the show as a "brilliant fusion of sport and art".

"There's not much space for deep characterisation but Will Close and Josh Barrow are very funny as [Harry] Kane and [Jordan] Pickford, Darragh Hand and Kel Matsena quietly moving as [Marcus] Rashford and [Raheem] Sterling," he added.

"There's a goalmouth scramble at the end to fit in the Lionesses' 2022 Euros win and controversies over Qatar. It doesn't matter. This is a thrilling piece of work, popular and political as Graham always intends his plays to be, and - appropriately - a consummate team effort."

Speaking to the BBC in February, Graham promised the play would highlight the "gentle revolution" in the team's culture under Southgate and that he hoped to examine "the identity of a football team and the country".

"I think what has happened to the men's England football team over the past six years has been quietly extraordinary," the award-winning writer told BBC News.

"It's been humming along in the background, but we're only starting to really understand now Gareth's gentle revolution."

Actor Fiennes later added that Southgate had "a sort of moral integrity and compass."

"He's been brought up as a young player in a very toxic male environment and you can imagine that he wants to unshackle himself, giving players their voice."

Dear England runs at the National Theatre in London until 11 August.