As the country continues to celebrate the Lionesses’ Euros victory, the National Theatre today reveals further casting for its highly anticipated national tour of Dear England.

As previously announced, heading the cast in ‘the decade's biggest theatrical triumph’ (★★★★ Daily Telegraph) will be David Sturzaker as England manager Gareth Southgate, with EastEnders and Mount Pleasant actress Samantha Womack playing the role of team psychologist Pippa Grange.

The cast also includes returning performers Jass Beki as Bukayo Saka, Courtney George as Alex Scott, Miles Henderson as Ensemble, and Tom Lane as Eric Dier. They will be joined by new cast members 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 Casualty actor George Rainsford as Mike Webster.

Also joining the company are Stuart Ash, Natalie Boakye, Sam Craig, and Jonathan Markwood. The cast will also be playing additional roles as part of the ensemble.

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 tour Mayflower Theatre from 13 – 17 January 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).

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 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 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, 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.

Assisted performances are available throughout the run at each venue. Check individual venue websites for information and booking details.

Raymond James and Charles Stanley are proud to support the national tour of Dear England.

Tickets for Dear England (Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 January 2026) are on sale at mayflower.org.uk.