Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Here we go again. When James Graham’s superb, football-focused Dear England first kicked off, the English national team was embarking, yet again, on the decades-old quest for an international trophy. Now, 21 months later, the play is back. And the England football team is embarking, yet again, on the decades-old quest for a trophy — the 2026 World Cup. (The men’s team, that is: the women have it done and dusted, but that’s another story.)Some things don’t change. And this remains a brilliant, state-of-the-nation piece: a wise, big-hearted, pulsating drama that explores, with Shakespearean wit and sweep, huge issues such as what it means to be English, to be successful, to be a leader. It’s a glorious assertion too of how exhilarating live theatre can be, with Rupert Goold’s vibrant production (revived here by Elin Schofield) bringing to the huge Olivier stage all the nail-biting excitement of a major tournament final. But what’s striking is that it now feels, if anything, even more pressing in its concerns. Like England’s (now-departed) manager Gareth Southgate, the play grapples with the role of the team in the national psyche and with the possibility of forging a better, more tolerant country with a different consensus of what winning looks like. Graham traces Southgate’s determination to learn from his own bitterly lonely miss from the penalty spot as a player in 1996 to become a gentler role model for his young players and, by extension, for young men more widely. There’s a new poignancy to all this. In 2023, hopes were kindling for success in the Euros — hopes that ended in heartache, when England lost in the final in 2024. A new urgency, too. Events on the world stage have shifted. The myths of national greatness, the lure of the “strong man” leader and the toxic versions of masculinity that Southgate works so hard to tackle, feel dangerously prevalent, as does the vicious political discourse that Graham challenges with his uplifting proposal of a kinder communality.Meanwhile, a play that so consciously leans into history — national, sporting, theatrical — has been overtaken by history itself. It now has a new ending to feature Southgate’s farewell and the handing over of the crown. Thomas Tuchel, the wiry new England coach, literally steps out of the wings here, played by Gunnar Cauthery. Politicians who once loomed large now come on as bit-parts, take a pot-shot at goal and then leave. There’s a new, match-fit onstage squad. Gwilym Lee excels as a diffident yet determined Southgate; Ryan Whittle is very touching as Harry Kane; Jude Carmichael quietly moving as Marcus Rashford. So, the continuity expressed by Southgate becomes true of the play itself. And that’s the real measure of this drama: it’s a team effort. It’s flawed — too many incidents in the second half; not enough time on a few key issues; some underdeveloped characters. But it’s also generous and funny and bursts with movement (directed by Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf), rolling across Es Devlin’s circular set, which encompasses the penalty spot and holds the whole play in its embrace. At root, however, it’s about our collective history and our place in it, about storytelling and trying to forge a new narrative, and about theatre expressing that in a vivid, communal way. Those issues feel even more vital than they did two years ago.★★★★☆To May 24, then at The Lowry, Salford, May 29-June 29, and on national tour from September, dearenglandonstage.com
