The cast on the first day of rehearsals for the 2025-2026 tour of James Graham’s Dear England, visiting Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford. Picture: Justine Matthew
THE National Theatre’s 2025-2026 tour of James Graham’s Dear England – “the Gareth Southgate play” – will visit Leeds Grand Theatre from November 4 to 8.
Further Yorkshire runs are booked into Sheffield Lyceum Theatre from October 21 to 25 and Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, for February 17 to 21 2026.
Heading the cast will be David Sturzaker as England manager – and knighted Harrogate resident – Gareth Southgate, alongside EastEnders and Mount Pleasant actress Samantha Womack in the role of team psychologist Pippa Grange.
Directed by Almeida Theatre artistic director Rupert Goold, the cast also features returnees Jass Beki as Bukayo Saka; Courtney George as Alex Scott; Tom Lane as Eric Dier and Miles Henderson in Ensemble roles.
David Sturzaker: Playing Gareth Southgate in Dear England, on tour in 2025-2026. Picture: Michael Shelford
Joining them will be company newcomers Jake Ashton-Nelson as Jordan Henderson; Luke Azille as Jadon Sancho; Ian Bartholomew as Greg Dyke; Ashley Byam as Raheem Sterling; Steven Dykes as Sam Allardyce; Oscar Gough as Harry Kane; Jayden Hanley as Marcus Rashford; Connor Hawker as Harry Maguire; Ian Kirkby as Gary Lineker; Jack Maddison as Jordan Pickford; Liam Prince-Donnelly as Dele Alli and George Rainsford as Mike Webster. In the squad too are Stuart Ash, Natalie Boakye, Sam Craig and Jonathan Markwood.
Premiered in June 2023, Graham’s inspiring, at times heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting story of Gareth Southgate’s revolutionary tenure as England football manager won the 2024 Olivier Award for Best New Play, en route to breaking box-office records in its West End run.
Dear England charts Southgate’s impact when taking over from Sam Allardyce in 2016. As the play’s synopsis puts it: “It’s time to change the game. The country that gave the world football has since delivered a painful pattern of loss. The England men’s team has the worst track record for penalties in the world, and manager Gareth Southgate knows he needs to open his mind and face up to the years of hurt to take team and country back to the promised land”.
The tour will visit 16 venues from September 15 2025 to March 14 2026 in a co-production with Josh Andrews and Stuart Galbraith for JAS Theatricals. Goold is joined in the production team by set designer Es Devlin, whose credits include Beyonce’s Renaissance world tour and The Lehman Trilogy at the National Theatre, along with costume designer Evie Gurney; lighting designer Jon Clark; co-movement directors Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf; video designer Ash J Woodward, and co-sound designers Dan Balfour and Tom Gibbons.
Samantha Womack: Playing team psychologist Pippa Grange in Dear England. Picture: Michelle George
They are joined by tour revival director Connie Treves; revival movement director Tom Herron; casting director Bryony Jarvis-Taylor; associate set designer Alice Hallifax; associate lighting designer Ben Jacobs; associate video designer Libby Ward; associate sound designer Johnny Edwards; casting associate Lilly Mackie and resident director Dan Hutton.
The National Theatre will run a year-long schools engagement programme inspired by Gareth Southgate’s “Dear England” open letter that he wrote to England fans in 2021.
This programme, designed to prompt young people to reflect on their own place in history, just as the footballers in Southgate’s squad were encouraged to do, comes in response to 2025 being the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
It will be delivered to 10,000 pupils in schools across England at assemblies and workshops, using spoken word and sound design to support students to share the hopes and aspirations they have for themselves, and other young people, 80 years from now.
The cast of Dear England at the National Theatre this spring. Picture: Marc Brenner
The resulting sound archive will form a 2025–2026 time capsule. In addition, students will be invited to attend performances of Dear England during the tour.
Dear England was commissioned by the National Theatre and developed with the theatre’s New Work department for its world premiere on June 20 2023 in the Olivier theatre. A sold-out run was followed by a transfer to the Prince Edward Theatre, London, from October 9 2023 to January 13 2024, where box-office records were broken.
Dear England was released to cinemas through National Theatre Live on January 24 2024 and has been screened almost 2,500 times across the UK.
In February 2024, the BBC announced its commission of a four-part drama of Dear England, based on the stage production, for BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Tane Siah’s Bukayo Saka and Gwilym Lee’s Gareth Southgate in Dear England at the National Theatre this spring. Picture: Marc Brennen
Graham’s play returned to the National Theatre in Spring 2025, updated to reflect the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, Southgate’s final chapter as England manager that ended, spoiler alert, with defeat to Spain in the final. The regional premiere was staged in a four-week run at The Lowry, Salford, that opened on May 29.
The 2025/2026 national tour is supported by Incentivising Touring: Repayable Grants for Theatre and Dance, a pilot scheme developed by Arts Council England to support larger-scale productions to tour to regional venues.
Dear England was among the first to receive a share of more than £2million as part of the first round of the scheme, designed to create the opportunity for more people to see high-quality shows close to where they live.
Tickets for Leeds are on sale on 0113 243 0808 or at leedsheritagetheatres.com; Sheffield, sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/lyceum; Bradford, bradford-theatres.co.uk/alhambra-theatre.
Did you know?
JAMES Graham’s last play to visit Leeds Grand Theatre was his stage adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Black Stuff from May 13 to 17 2025.