Dear England - NT Olivier / Prince Edward Theatre / Lowry

[max]

spelling correction to the above post. Should be:
David Amess MP

[Jon]

I bet James Graham is waiting with baited breath to see if he needs to rewrite the second act and ending!

[lynette]

Jul 10, 2024 23:53:16 GMT Jon said:

I bet James Graham is waiting with bated breath to see if he needs to rewrite the second act and ending!

Without adding to the ending or rewriting I think the play stand well as a comment on sport, the UK, attitudes etc. But some neatly edited video showing at the end if England by any chance win on Sunday for all the following performances would be fun. Let’s see. 

[theatremiss]

Has anything been said regarding casting yet? Anyone in the know?

[theatreliker]

Well it's not to be. The second act was already a bit repetitive. Wonder if he'll add much.

[max]

The whole play hinges on the psychology of team spirit, belief, and a holistic attitude to community and sport. Great - as far as that goes: the Psychology of putting yourself together.

Missing from the play, because it's missing from the manager's vocabulary too, is the psychology of the other team - how to affect it, how to wear it down etc.

Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final this afternoon was a reminder of how much we see the latter in tennis all the time: 'I'll tempt you to come to the net, just to embarass you into hesitating to do so next time; and when you hesitate next time I'll embarass you a different way with a drop shot you're miles away from because you stayed back'.

But instead of that, we have England... Staying in your own half, constantly passing back to the goalkeeper, waiting (forever) for a perfect set-piece you've rehearsed on paper, rather than worrying the other team with constant incursions into their half and pressure on their goal (even if they don't always come off) that creates doubt.

The England manager, and the play, are too polite to go into the other side of Sports Psychology - breaking down your opponent, through skill.

[amyja89]

I really can't see the point of reworking this in any major way to be honest. Even in its current form (which I greatly enjoyed), it does feel like it peaks at the Colombia shootout, and that is before the interval if I remember correctly? Perhaps some kind of text/montage addendum to wrap it up, akin to the way that The Motive And The Cue ends? Can't see it being as perfect a bow as that, though.

[BurlyBeaR]

I’d very much like to hear more about the play and its future in Salford and beyond.

[lynette]

As it stands the play is remarkably prescient and relevant, I’d say.

[dillan]

Guess the play will be ending with Southgate resigning now..

[aspieandy]

Too negative. It will end on a high with the optimism of a new manager.

[BurlyBeaR]

Posts related to Gareth Southgate and English football have been moved to their own thread for those who wish to engage. 
theatreboard.co.uk/thread/12202/gareth-southgate-english-football

This thread is about the play itself. Further posts made in this thread which are not directly connected with the play will be deleted (I’m not moving any more).

[blamerobots]

All these events want to make me watch the play again when it returns. How do recent events change the feelings I had after watching the play initially?

When else in West End history has a play been so subject to change so quickly..?

[Being Alive]

On a second watch, I really didn't find that this stood up to much of a play at all.

The skill of it was to get people into the NT who'd largely never been before, whilst still having some substance to keep the core theatre audience engaged.
It has a lot to say about the state of the nation, but it doesn't say any of it particularly well.

5 star piece of programming and I adore James, and he absolutely achieved what he set out to do.
3 star play.
The least good of the 4 nominated best plays at this year's Olivier's but it's a commercial juggernaut so that's why it won.