Dear England - NT Olivier / Prince Edward Theatre / Lowry

I went to the final performance last night and one thing that surprised me was how rowdy the audience was. Lots of shouting out and a highly charged atmosphere. I can see this being more so when it goes to the Prince Edward. Was anyone else there?

I was there and noticed the same. Compared to earlier in the run much more of a generalist audience (as opposed to NT loyalists) I would say: more tourists, quite a few Dads with their offsprings, people wearing football shirts, couples loudly talking and slobbering over each other, lots of loud mansplaining who various people were, extended I'm going to lean forward/find my bag/unzip my bag/rummage around in my bag/find what I was looking for in bag/confirm this fact to my seat neighbour/loudly zip up and replace bag/rock around on seat a bit routines not to forget a few of those strange men who like to stand up mid row and look anxiously around, never sitting down at all until the show is literally starting (to the relief of the ushers who looked a bit concerned). A lot of booing / heckling for Boris also!

I suspect the audiences at Prince Edward are going to be awful! Noticed it starts at 7pm at Prince Edward which is slightly odd no, it's not that long?

There seemed to be some sort of issue with the sound in the first half, a tiny hint of feedback kept happening and the cast didn't seem very loud almost like they weren't being amplified at all. Recorded sound was fine. I was in the stalls so wasn't sure how it was in the circle? A few of the cast sounded quite hoarse too, I think they may be suffering from this horrible throat / cough thing going round which I've had and a lot of the audience also seemed to be suffering with!!

Glad it will make a load of cash for the NT but also glad I saw it on the Southbank, I will avoid the transfer I think because the audiences will likely wind me up! 

Was there last night, a bit louder than usual and a couple of weird annoying single shouters but I would not say it spoilt any bit of the show. Wonderful piece about leadership by caring for people, echoes the recent Ted Lasso that I adored. A football fan myself, different team, but I can fully appreciate the sentiment. Yet again James Graham tells a truly compelling story that I am sure was, is and will be enjoyed by many not associated themselves with the game. I could do without the politics though.. but JG would not be himself leaving it out of the focus.
From where I was sitting in the circle (sound was fine btw) Joseph Fiennes looked exactly like Southgate, the supporting cast depictions of famous footballers were spot on. Gotta admit I cried a bit at the end, which says something about me more that the production, which felt inspired and inspiring.

Yeah that "we didn't qualify" shout was from somewhere near me I think (I was row M stalls) - handled really well by Joseph - and yes Theresa May recovered that well! She managed to get back on her feet, get her shoes back on and deliver her line before all the stuff on the revolve came round to hit her!

Also quite a lot of odd (drunken?) cackling coming from the side stalls at inappropriate moments like the Marcus Rashford dad line.

Pray for the poor ushers at the Prince Edward, especially in December! I can just visualise it now, people up in town for a bit of xmas shopping or some work drinks, getting very well oiled then Dear England afterwards! But there is probably some sort of ironic / circular / existential point to be made about England, Football, Theatre and the middle class / working class connection to the game etc!

I read a comment on The Times on an article which said of Dear England "it plays best to the middle class fan whose love of football and theatre are likely equal" which I agree with. I think the move to the Prince Edward deffo takes it into a difference audience profile (love of football probably more than love of theatre) which is ultimately good as theatre needs income but I wonder if the audience shift will mean it will get a bit more pantomime in parts and perhaps the audiences will be a bit less sympathetic to some of the themes in act 2?  I hope not, but I guess we need to wait and see if they change anything! 

Also there last night but unfortunately left at the interval. Half shallow characters and half obnoxious audience triggered me to leave.

I know it’s supposed to be accessible storytelling, but found the whole thing unbearably broad, and not helped by the women behind me guffawing at every line… who knew ‘I brought muffins’ could be so side-splitting. And a weird Frank Spencer-esque voice from Fiennes.

Perhaps it picked up but don’t think my toes could face the curling that would have been prompted by a BJ cameo and a Sweet Caroline sing-a-long.

Appreciate it’s doing its job in getting non-traditional audiences into the theatre, but I know in future ‘crowd pleaser’ is a red flag for snobs like me!

I’m a little confused at all the exclusive pre-sale emails I’m getting for this from agencies when it went on general sale last Friday!

For the query about a 7pm start it ran about 3 hours when I saw it so good choice!

I saw this a fortnight ago from the front row of the stalls , the view somewhat skewed but acceptable. As a non football fan I didn't know the narrative or how it ended . I found it funny , affecting and the physicality of the set pieces brilliantly choreographed. Although at one stage I thought one of the cast might join me in the stalls . There is of course the resonance of the current womens world cup as the rendition of Sweet Caroline at the end displayed. One caveat I overheard in the interval was " It's not serious theatre but pleasant enough " Well you can't suit everyone .

James Graham is probably rewriting as we speak.

According to Graham himself he had the idea a few years ago but did not start writing until after the Qatar World Cup, only meeting some workers in the FA after this!

Over in the real world, Southgate's latest pearl of wisdom when asked whether newly-selected Jordan Henderson might trigger a bad reaction from England fans for choosing to play football in a country where people can be killed by the state for engaging in homosexual activity and women are second-class citizens:

"I don't know why a player would receive an adverse reaction because of where he plays football."

Wait till he hears about all the flack sportsmen received for playing in apartheid South Africa.

The differences between the touchy-feely character in the play and the real-life version are quite stark.

Joseph Fiennes is on The One Show tomorrow night.

Sad to lose Gina McKee who I thought was terrific in this, but Dervla Kirwan a lovely replacement