James Graham's touching, funny play about Gareth Southgate's cultural overhaul of the national team is an unashamedly populist entertainment that may just get theatregoers interested in football, and football fans into a theatre.
Not only does it feature Joseph Fiennes' standout uncanny performance as the quietly authoritative England manager, but it explores profound notions around masculinity, the mental pressure of elite sport, and our national psyche.
Between laugh out loud caricatures of Gary Lineker, Graham Taylor and Sven, there are moving personal moments as Marcus Rashford (Darragh Hand) and Raheem Sterling (Kel Matesena) talk about growing up with poverty and racism, and their feelings about the England flag.
Rupert Goold's dynamic, busy direction puts everything from ex-prime ministers to morris dancers and vicars on stage, and while the talky bits could do with a 15-minute shave, Dear England - inspired by Southgate's open letter before the 2020 Euros final - hits the net.
It begins on Es Devlin's spare, circular set with projections of Wembley's twin towers and Southgate's devastating penalty miss at the 1996 Euros. There was no counselling to deal with such public shame and failure, and grown-up Gareth wants to ensure no other England player feels the same.
Cue Gina McKee's gently bewildered psychologist Pippa Grange tackling self-doubt and trust-building among Southgate's young squad, while he tackles head on the years of hurt at losing at our own game, and empowers them to change the story around decades of underdelivering on unrealistic expecations.
Mocked for his inarticulate speech, Will Close's Harry Kane has a perceptive moment, harking back to the uncool dancing of the triumphant '66 squad in the days before intense media and public pressure on footballers.
Gruff coach Mike Webster (Paul Thornley) thinks the players need toughening, not 'softness', but it turns out Southgate's progressive championing of mutual respect and emotional intelligence helps to break England's penalty curse and make him our most successful manager yet.
Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf translate headers and kicks into fluent physical movement, and Goold evokes genuine tension in two gruelling penalty shoot-outs - even if you know the outcome.
If the Lioness' triumph, and the Quatar One Love armband issue get shoehorned in last minute, Graham and Goold never lose sight of the young men - as diverse as England itself - whose eventual bonding feels heartwarming and earned.
Dear England runs at The National Theatre until August 11.
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