Dear England - NT Olivier / Prince Edward Theatre / Lowry

[theatrefan2018]

How would the view be like from 2nd row side stalls (row C)? I'm over 165cm. Would it be too skewed if seated on the side (3 or 4 seats from the sides)?

[confessor]

Dec 6, 2023 22:30:30 GMT theatrefan2018 said:

How would the view be like from 2nd row side stalls (row C)? I'm over 165cm. Would it be too skewed if seated on the side (3 or 4 seats from the sides)?

You should be fine, I don't recall much of it that wasn't played facing forward.

[theatrefan2018]

Dec 7, 2023 11:07:29 GMT confessor said:

Dec 6, 2023 22:30:30 GMT theatrefan2018 said:

How would the view be like from 2nd row side stalls (row C)? I'm over 165cm. Would it be too skewed if seated on the side (3 or 4 seats from the sides)?

You should be fine, I don't recall much of it that wasn't played facing forward.

Thank you!  

[amyja89]

Finally got around to seeing this today for the matinee. Really enjoyed it, great performances all round. A stronger first half in my opinion, the momentum up to and including the COL shoot out was fantastic.

[Mark]

Second viewing tonight in a very full house. A very non typical theatre audience (the queue for the gents outweighed the queue for the ladies) totally engrossed. Great on a second viewing.

I also heard a fair share of enthusiastic American accents during the interval and on my way out so I’m curious how this does on its transfer.

[theatrefan572]

Nov 19, 2023 16:54:29 GMT properjob said:

Nov 19, 2023 12:57:41 GMT djdan14 said:

Not sure if this is already covered but just seen on Tik Tok that a casting notice on equity for broadway has gone out.

That seems brave. I'm not sure it will translate without a deep knowledge of English culture. I loved it, I don't follow football but as an Englishman in England I am fully aware of the cultural baggage around it. Without that and knowledge of "soccer" I think audiences might struggle. I wish them luck.

I caught the final matinee of this today. Really enjoyed it considering I am not a football fan at all. Surprised a Broadway transfer is in the works but at the same time, I got huge ‘Ted Lasso’ vibes from this. I wonder if that’s something that could work in its favour?

[Dr Tom]

I was there on the front row for the final matinee today. A few empty seats around me, but not sure if this was because people had asked to move or if they’d taken the seats off sale. I still think this is an excellent view.

The cast were having a lot of fun. I think there were a few muckup changes but I can’t remember this well enough to say for sure. Even some interaction with me. A polite audience too.

I hope the current cast all get to go to Broadway. It may be a difficult sell over there and I suspect jokes about Dudley will go over the heads of many, but football does have a worldwide following. Let’s not forget this replaced a big money Broadway jukebox musical transfer, has sold very well, and is in one of London’s largest theatres. I’m sure there will be another London run in the future.

[greatauntedna]

Saw the last performance tonight in row M, after seeing it front row in July. Very good.

Did they cut a scene towards the end, a heart to heart between Gareth and Pippa? I thought so and a woman on the way out was asking an usher if they’d changed the ending.

[lynette]

Jan 13, 2024 22:46:55 GMT greatauntedna said:

Saw the last performance tonight in row M, after seeing it front row in July. Very good.

Did they cut a scene towards the end, a heart to heart between Gareth and Pippa? I thought so and a woman on the way out was asking an usher if they’d changed the ending.

Was that the conversation a little earlier in the play? I was at the matinee today. My question is, did they give the women winning a few more seconds? Seemed she was onstage longer than I recall from NT. 

[lynette]

Jan 13, 2024 18:37:37 GMT Dr Tom said:

I was there on the front row for the final matinee today. A few empty seats around me, but not sure if this was because people had asked to move or if they’d taken the seats off sale. I still think this is an excellent view.

The cast were having a lot of fun. I think there were a few muckup changes but I can’t remember this well enough to say for sure. Even some interaction with me. A polite audience too.

I hope the current cast all get to go to Broadway. It may be a difficult sell over there and I suspect jokes about Dudley will go over the heads of many, but football does have a worldwide following. Let’s not forget this replaced a big money Broadway jukebox musical transfer, has sold very well, and is in one of London’s largest theatres. I’m sure there will be another London run in the future.

Was there too! We were a quiet audience, weren’t we? 

[greatauntedna]

Jan 13, 2024 23:12:13 GMT lynette said:

Jan 13, 2024 22:46:55 GMT greatauntedna said:

Saw the last performance tonight in row M, after seeing it front row in July. Very good.

Did they cut a scene towards the end, a heart to heart between Gareth and Pippa? I thought so and a woman on the way out was asking an usher if they’d changed the ending.

Was that the conversation a little earlier in the play? I was at the matinee today. My question is, did they give the women winning a few more seconds? Seemed she was onstage longer than I recall from NT. 

I’m not sure. I feel like at the NT, there was a conversation with them sat near the front of the stage, shortly before the final scene. I could be totally misremembering.

I did think they gave the women’s win more time!

[Stephen]

Was at the final matinee. I hadn't seen a play for a while so found it all a big heightened at first but settled in and really enjoyed it! I was impressed by how well timed the kicks and sound effects were. To the extent I wondered if there are cue lights for the cast or something.

Still, not my favourite James Graham play and comes behind Ink and Labour of Love for me.

Would be interested in the Broadway response because it feels so 'British' but then they will probably think that's sweet and love how 'British' it all is.

I overhead a lady from the US ask an Usher if she had to pay for a programme. LOL.

[Rory]

[amyja89]

Anyone else feel like this is destined for a film adaptation at some point? Even better if England can actually do something in Germany this year to give Southgate his full circle moment!

[Stephen]

Can anyone who has seen this remind me of the quote which appears on the light ring above the stage towards the end of act 2. I liked it but have since forgotten it. Is it in the play text? About strength in fear or similar? 

[harrietcraig]

I was somewhat surprised to see that there will be NT Live screenings of Dear England in New York in March. Leopoldstadt never got an NT Live screening in New York (in fact, I don’t thank it was screened anywhere in the US), and I always assumed that was because they didn’t want to cut into the audiences for live performances of the Broadway production, which opened not long after the NT Live screenings were shown in the UK.

If Dear England is indeed going to transfer to Broadway, I wonder why there wasn’t the same concern about allowing NT Live screenings in New York. I just bought a ticket for a screening on March 29, which means I’m most likely one less potential ticket-buyer for the live production when it comes to Broadway.

[aspieandy]

Neil Diamond is a hometown boy, isn't he. I can see him being wheeled out for the promo ...what price a stage appearance?

[Dr Tom]

Jan 15, 2024 20:37:55 GMT aspieandy said:

Neil Diamond is a hometown boy, isn't he. I can see him being wheeled out for the promo ...what price a stage appearance?

Sadly, I don’t believe he’s able to make public appearances any more.

[theatremiss]

Jan 14, 2024 14:41:23 GMT Rory said:

Is this a Broadway Act III?

[aspieandy]

Jan 16, 2024 18:28:40 GMT theatremiss said:

Jan 14, 2024 14:41:23 GMT Rory said:

Is this a Broadway Act III?

We don't know yet. What we do know is this is happening, and England are playing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2024

It would be pretty natural for it to return to the NT for a second run during the tournament.

[theatremiss]

Jan 16, 2024 20:08:39 GMT aspieandy said:

Jan 16, 2024 18:28:40 GMT theatremiss said:

Is this a Broadway Act III?

We don't know yet. What we do know is this is happening, and England are playing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2024

It would be pretty natural for it to return to the NT for a second run during the tournament.

Hope it isn’t a limited run as I’m hoping to be at the Euros

[carriesparkle]

I saw this at the NT Live screening this week and had been looking forward to it for ages. I liked it a lot, and recognised that there were some staging choices that would really hit home in the room rather than on the screen. I enjoyed the move from caricature to fully-drawn character for eg Harry Kane, but really felt there were some missed opportunities. I thought Act 1 was a bit leaden in places with Act 2 much the more engaging but also with SO much packed into it there were things that were touched on (because they had to be, like the racism post-Euro 2020/1) but never unpacked.

I would have loved that scene with Southgate and Sarina Wiegman to have been developed - that little aside from a player about the "low expectations" for the women balanced against the pressure for men, Southgate's position as player from Euro 96 and Wiegman's epic success as a coach in other countries and coming in as an outsider, really bolsters what Graham wants to do with this play.

I didn't like some of the clunky exposition (particularly the dressing-room chat between players).

I should say I'm coming at all of this as someone who works in football so appreciate that others may not feel the same!

[Rory]

I saw this in the Olivier in August on one of the days on which it was being filmed. I absolutely loved it and the atmosphere in the auditorium was electrifying. However, on seeing it again at the cinema, for me it really highlighted the limitations of cinema relay. Whilst it's better to have NT Live than not, for me the magic didn't translate on this occasion. It's such a theatrical piece.

[aspieandy]

Jan 28, 2024 8:52:24 GMT carriesparkle said:

.. with SO much packed into it there were things that were touched on (because they had to be, like the racism post-Euro 2020/1) but never unpacked.

 This unpacks it a bit. As of the July following the winter tournament:

The UK Football Policing Unit received 600 reports of racist comments sent to England's black players after the defeat and judged 207 to be criminal. Of these, 123 were posted by people overseas, while 34 came from the UK.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58094408

Overwhelmingly, these comment come via bot farms in Eastern Europe, keen for England/UK to eat itself up with self-loathing (Elon Musk has since done a great deal of housekeeping in this respect). As the article says, 34 racist comments didn't come from England but rather the whole of the UK.

That's pretty close to one racist comment per two million people (ratio of drunk/stupid unknown).

[adrianics]

I saw a screening in my local cinema yesterday. This is the first time I've been to an NT Live screening and certainly won't be the last; I greatly enjoyed it, felt I didn't miss an awful lot from watching on screen rather than going to the enormous inconvenience and expense of travelling down to London and especially appreciated the interval! It's a shame that the quick-change makeup (particularly the bald caps) didn't stand up to scrutiny when on-screen, but that's obviously understandable.

I'm a huge football fan who has followed the Southgate England team very closely having become entirely disillusioned with them during the Eriksson/Capello/Hodgson years, so was very much looking forward to experiencing this.

To me it's a fascinating example of a creative project simultaneously trying to cover far too much ground but also being far too long; the significance of Southgate's England team in the wider context of the country's political and social direction, the amount of scrutiny and pressure international footballers face against their personal feelings, the lack of mental health provisions for top athletes, the "shut up and play" controversies that have come with cultural figures becoming more and more outspoken on social media, everything the play touches on is ripe for artistic analysis but ultimately Dear England tries to cover all of it with various levels of success. To me it would have been a lot better to cover a single tournament, probably the 2021 Euros, rather than Southgate's entire tenure to date. I would also just remove the various references to real-life political figures if you're going to chicken out of doing anything more dangerous than just having an ensemble member put on a bad wig and do a Boris Johnson impression.

The staging of the production and performances from the ensemble were spectacular. The stand-outs amongst the players for me were Pickford, Sterling and especially Harry Kane; the running motif of the pressure that comes with taking penalties, tied up with one of the world's most dependable penalty takers missing the most important penalty of his career, bordered on genius and was very effective. I absolutely *loved* the players reciting their numbers in the order of England players across time before taking their penalties, which was a beautiful way of portraying the effect Southgate had on changing the perception of playing for England.

I have very mixed feelings on Fienne's performance as Southgate. He's clearly put an enormous amount of time, work and effort into capturing the mannerisms but at times it bordered on the ridiculous and I wondered whether it was supposed to be venerating Southgate or mocking him. His monologue about his trauma of missing the penalty was absolutely sublime in writing and acting, and the final moment between him and Kane was perfect.

All in all I think I'd give this 4/5. I agree with the comments that it would make a good movie!