The National Theatre today announces casting news for its highly anticipated national tour of Dear England.  Leading the cast in ‘the decade’s biggest theatrical triumph’ (★★★★ Daily Telegraph) will be David Sturzaker as England manager Gareth Southgate, with East Enders and Mount Pleasant actress Samantha Womack playing the role of team psychologist Pippa Grange.  Football and non-football fans alike will be brought to their feet for this inspiring, at times heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting story of Gareth Southgate’s revolutionary tenure as England manager.

The Olivier Award-winning Best New Play, which broke box office records during its West End run in 2023, will be stage at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 10 March until Saturday 14 March 2026 in a co-production with Josh Andrews and Stuart Galbraith for JAS Theatricals.

Dear England is written by the multi-award-winning stage and screen writer, James Graham (Punch, West End; Sherwood, BBC One), directed by the Almeida Theatre’s Artistic Director Rupert Goold (Patriots, Ink; Almeida Theatre/West End/Broadway) with set design by Es Devlin (Beyonce’s Renaissance, World Tour; The Lehman Trilogy, National Theatre).

David Sturzaker is best known for playing Simon Bond in BBC One’s Doctors.  Theatre credits include Captain Stanhope in Journey’s End (West End), To Kill a Mockingbird (West End), Charles II (The Globe/West End) and Torvald Helmer in A Doll’s House (Royal Exchange).  Other screen credits include Endeavour (ITV), Da Vinci’s Demons (STARZ) and Father Brown (BBC One).

Samantha Womack is best known for playing Ronnie Mitchell in BBC One’s EastEnders.  She has also starred in Game On (BBC Two) and Mount Pleasant (Sky) on TV, represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest and performed leading stage roles in the West End and on tour.  Theatre credits include Rachel in The Girl on the Train and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (West End and UK Tours), 42nd Street and Morticia in The Addams Family (UK tours); South Pacific (Barbican/UK tour) and Guys and Dolls (West End).  Other screen credits include Silent Witness (BBC One), The Marlow Murder Club (UKTV) and film, Kingsman: The Secret Service (20th Century Studios).

Further casting to be announced.

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.

Dear England is ‘gripping, moving and funny…as good as theatre gets’ (★★★★ The Sunday Times).  It will tour to 16 venues across England from 15 September 2025 until 14 March 2026.

Actor David Sturzaker who will play the role of Gareth Southgate said: “I’m thrilled to be taking on the role of Gareth Southgate. It’s a great responsibility and an honour to be playing him. He’s been an inspiring figurehead for many, rebuilding a team, and the country’s self-belief at what is possible, on and off, the football pitch. This is one of the aspects of the play that resonates most for me – the ability of football, and sport in general, to extend its reach beyond the game, to unite us and inspire us in our lives beyond the sport itself.  It’s also hugely exciting to be involved in a production that has already been such a hit in London and Salford. I’m looking forward to taking Dear England on tour across the country, giving many more people the opportunity to see this fantastic show.”

Actress, Samantha Womack, who will play the role of Pippa Grange said: “I am so excited to be returning to the stage to perform in Dear England.  It’s a wonderful piece of theatre – entertaining and thought-provoking as well as incredibly staged.  I am also fascinated by Pippa Grange and her impact on England men’s team during her term as Head of People and Team Development at the Football Association during Gareth Southgate’s tenure.  She fundamentally changed the culture and, in turn, the course of sporting history by teaching the squad to embrace their fears and she’s an extremely inspiring role to take on.  I can’t wait to delve in and get back to touring around the country with this fantastic show.”

The wider creative team for Dear England includes costume designer, Evie Gurney; lighting designer, Jon Clark; co-movement directors, Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf; video designer, Ash J Woodward; co-sound designers, Dan Balfour and Tom Gibbons with additional music by Max Perryment.

They are joined by tour revival director Connie Treves, revival movement director Tom Herron, casting director Bryony Jarvis-Taylor CDG, 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, which will prompt young people across the UK to reflect on their own place in history, just as the footballers in Southgate’s squad were encouraged to do, is in response to this year being the 80th anniversary of the Second World War.  It will be delivered in schools across England with 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 resulting sound archive will form a unique 2025–2026 time capsule.  Students will also be invited to see performances of Dear England during the tour.  This year-long schools engagement programme is expected to reach over 10,000 young people.

Dear England was originally commissioned by the National Theatre and developed with the theatre’s New Work department.  Its world premiere was on 20 June 2023 in the Olivier theatre.  Following a sold-out run, Dear England transferred to the Prince Edward Theatre, in London’s West End, from 9 October 2023 to 13 January 2024, where it broke box office records.  Dear England was subsequently released to cinemas through National Theatre Live on 24 January 2024 and has been screened almost 2,500 times across the UK.  In February 2024, the BBC announced it had commissioned a four-part drama of Dear England based on the stage production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer and it won ‘Best New Play’ at the 2024 Olivier Awards later that year.  Dear England returned to the National Theatre in spring 2025, updated to reflect the 2024 UEFA EURO tournament and Gareth Southgate’s final chapter as England manager.  The play had its regional premiere at the Lowry in Salford on 29 May followed by a 4-week run.

This 2025/2026 national tour of Dear England is a co-production between National Theatre Productions and JAS Theatricals.  It has been 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 amongst the first to receive a share of over £2million as part of the first round of the scheme, which creates the opportunity for more people to see high-quality shows close to where they live. 

Dear England comes to Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 10 March until Saturday 14 March 2026. Tickets can be booked here or by calling 0121 689 3000.