Dear England - NT Olivier / Prince Edward Theatre / Lowry

[andrew]

Aug 5, 2023 9:06:16 GMT KP said:

The remainder of this run is sold out but if anyone has recommendations on how to get a ticket to Thursday's performance (10 August) I would really appreciate it. My boyfriend is moving to the UK that day and I've always thought seeing this play would be the perfect way to kick off his life in England (he's a huge football fan and I am converting him to becoming a huge theatre fan). He's moving a few days earlier than planned so we actually have a chance to see it before it closes. We have one ticket but I need to find another. I am constantly refreshing the NT site hoping to get lucky. Do any of you have tips that could help me be successful - for example, are return tickets more likely to show up at certain times of day? Or a ticket for that night that you're not using? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me.

So you've missed Friday Rush which was probably your best bet, the Friday before the week you want the ticket they'll put up a handful of seats for cheap.

Your remaining options:
 - Religiously check the NT website, I don't know if a particular time is better than others but the box office opens at 9.30 so between then and the end of the working day, most likely in the 9.30 - 10.30 slot if I had to guess
 - Turn up on the day of the performance in the morning at the box office looking for a day seat, the numbers of these aren't guaranteed and there will likely be some length of queue for something that's sold out. I think they start selling these at 10am but double check, obviously the earlier you queue the more likely you'll get something
 - Standby tickets go on sale 60 minutes before the performance again from the box office in person, no guaranteed numbers and again it's first come first served, I've never tried this way so I don't know if you can turn up significantly earlier to queue

Good luck!

[meister]

Anyone know if the play text is due to be published?

[bram]

A smashing funny moving play. Superbly acted and directed. Excellent v

[dr]

Aug 5, 2023 12:58:49 GMT meister said:

Anyone know if the play text is due to be published?

Overheard in the NT Bookshop: There likely won't be a playtext, due to the use of real words from public figures (including, presumably, Gareth Southgate). I imagine it's difficult to obtain consent or rights for that, so no playtext for now. A real shame though - hopefully they can sort something before a potential transfer!

[AddisonMizner]

I went to the matinee today (5th August), and thought that it was absolutely incredible! I know nothing about football, and went purely as a fan of Graham’s work. Some of the jokes and impressions went over my head, but what I love about Graham’s writing is that it doesn’t expect you to know anything about the game, and gives you everything you need to know, but not in a contrived way.

However, as others have said very eloquently on this board, the play is not really about football at all. It encompasses so many things - toxic masculinity, mental health, the fickleness of fan culture, the history of England and what it means to be English. Ultimately though, it is about the fear of failure, how we deal with trauma and the benefits of therapy. I loved the arc of the story, as we start with Gareth Southgate looking back on his penalty miss. This is then the spectre that haunts him throughout the rest of the play. He thinks he has been given the chance as England manager to make up for this mistake. What he, and we as the audience realise by the end is that this is in fact not really the reason at all, but instead to make sure that no other player has to deal with the same trauma, that has essentially defined Southgate’s whole career. It leaves us with the message to be kind to one another. Kindness is the enduring route to success.

This is helped by Joseph Fiennes wonderful performance as Southgate. It didn’t feel like an impersonation at all, but a real embodiment of the man.

Graham is a master dramatist. How he structures his pieces is always impressive to me, and particularly here with how he turns this episodic story into something with dramatic cohesion. We see in the first act how he builds up the team with his completely new philosophy, and how this leads to success in Russia. In the second act, how we then see that start to slip away, as he almost abandons this philosophy, resulting in a parting of ways with Pippa and the detrimental effect this begins to have on the team, before he then sees the light again. How we weaves key moments through the bigger tapestry is also impressive. All the key ones from the past few years are here - Covid, racism hurled at players during the Euros, the taking of the knee, the Lioness World Cup win, the wider political landscape and the steady parade of prime-ministers from Teresa May to Boris Johnson to Liz Truss as well as the wearing of the armband for LGBTQ+ rights at the 2022 World Cup to name but a few. None of these feel shoe-horned in though, and just a natural part of the narrative.

The 3-hour running time flew by. I laughed (a lot) and actually teared up at other moments. I felt quite emotional at the end of Act 1.

I really liked the set and overall staging too. It was quite breathtaking at times. The use of the projections and neon circles almost creates the awe-inspiring expanse of Wembley Stadium. How the actors moved between scenes with chairs and set pieces was almost balletic, and how they often sit in unison at the start of a scene reinforced the idea of a team. The use of music also really lifted it.

It would be a crime if this did not transfer and have a further life. I can see this having a big commercial appeal. My dad for one would love this, and I can’t wait to hopefully take him if DEAR ENGLAND does make it to the West End.

An easy 5 stars, and perhaps the best thing I have seen so far this year. I loved it!

[Rory]

Your review is spot on, AddisonMizner. I saw the matinee on Wednesday which was being filmed for NT Live and thought it was absolutely sensational. I completely agree that Joseph Fiennes embodied Southgate and the staging was breathtaking. It was State of the Nation, a play for now, with topics of relevance to everyone, whether football fans or not. I would love my teenage sons, who are football mad, to see it, to see what it has to say about sport and life, and to be thoroughly entertained.

It was gratifying to see so many young folk there and I saw grandads with grandsons in raptures about it at the end.

I was completely swept up in the emotion of it all.

With this and The Motive and the Cue, the National has surpassed itself this year.

I could see Dear England being a colossal stonking great hit at the Prince Edward in October with a bit of luck and a fair wind (or if we must, at the NT again next year with an immediate transfer to the Gillian Lynne hopefully).

[Jon]

James Graham is going to be on BBC Breakfast next week, I think if it transferring it'll be announced then.

[Rory]

Aug 6, 2023 0:03:36 GMT Jon said:

James Graham is going to be on BBC Breakfast next week, I think if it transferring it'll be announced then.

Yes, I saw Jon Kay's tweet and that's exactly what I thought. Unless JG has something new to announce.

[theatremiss]

If this transfers I’ll be bankrupt. I’m actually obsessed. If it goes into the Prince Edward I wonder if Fiennes would go with it? I read somewhere that him and his family live in Spain so he’s been away a long time if it’s true. I can’t imagine the show without him

[theatremiss]

Aug 6, 2023 13:13:46 GMT kit66 said:

I very much doubt Dear England will transfer to the Prince Edwards as in the theatre's history a play has never been staged there.
I predict it will go back to the Olivier next year with a possible West End transfer - possibily to the Gillian Lynne - soon after once Standing on the Sky's Edge has closed.

Has next years Olivier program not been sorted already? If it’s going to get a second run I would imagine before next years Euros would be most lucrative and the Euros start mid June. I hope so anyway as Im signed up to go to the Euros and I’d like to be able to see Dear England before then.

[Rory]

Aug 6, 2023 13:13:46 GMT kit66 said:

I very much doubt Dear England will transfer to the Prince Edwards as in the theatre's history a play has never been staged there.
I predict it will go back to the Olivier next year with a possible West End transfer - possibily to the Gillian Lynne - soon after once Standing on the Sky's Edge has closed.

True about there never having been a play there, but I would think Dear England, which is an absolutely epic play with an epic set and buckets of commercial appeal, would have a much better chance of filling it than a musical about the Temptations.

Anyway, social media handles have been created for the play and a website registered so it's transferring somewhere at some point!

[londonpostie]

Doesn't a Neil Diamond sing-a-long count as a musical ..

[Jon]

In regards to the Prince Edward, while it's true it's never had a play, we've seen plays taking residence in traditional musical houses like One Man, Two Guvnors at the Adelphi, Harry Potter at the Palace to name but two so I don't think it's as farfetched for a play to run at the Prince Edward. 

I would imagine that a couple of rows will likely be removed if they want to recreate the set they had at the Olivier 

[Rory]

James Graham is on BBC Breakfast tomorrow.

[lynette]

Going to US?

[wiggymess]

West End in October. Onsale Friday

[ShoreditchTom]

West End from October seemed to be dropped into the interview a couple of times on BBC Breakfast just now but without saying where / making an announcement!

[Rory]

The Prince Edward from 9th October for 14 weeks

dearenglandonstage.com/

[Mark]

Huge achievement. I expect this to do very strong business.

[mrbarnaby]

I’m amazed! But hurrah.. I can finally see it!

[Dave B]

Runs until 13 January per Mark Shenton on Twitter with press night 13 October.

MJ opens on 06 March so surely time for a slight extension in there?

[Jon]

Aug 7, 2023 9:39:58 GMT Dave B said:

Runs until 13 January per Mark Shenton on Twitter with press night 13 October.

MJ opens on 06 March so surely time for a slight extension in there?

I assume that Cameron wants time for a quick refurb between shows.

The theatre gods were clearly liking my suggestions when I said Dear England should go to the Prince Edward;

[Someone in a tree]

But hang on aren't musicals the leylandi of theatre that are taking over the west end ?

[theatreliker]

Incredible it's transferring to such a large theatre. It's a hugely enjoyable play which wins over the audience. I felt its second act is weaker but doesn't detract from the overall effect.

[Jon]

Aug 7, 2023 10:05:59 GMT theatreliker said:

Incredible it's transferring to such a large theatre. It's a hugely enjoyable play which wins over the audience. I felt its second act is weaker but doesn't detract from the overall effect.

The Olivier is 1150 seats so an increase to a 1600-1700 seat theatre isn't a huge jump. Streetcar went from the 325 seat Almeida to the 1000 seat Phoenix and Death of the Salesman a few years back when from the Young Vic to the Piccadilly.