Dear England – see how footballers match up to their on-stage portrayals

James Graham’s Dear England is about to hit opening night, and brand-new production images have been released to mark the occasion.

The football-themed play, directed by Rupert Goold, follows the beginning of Gareth Southgate’s tenure at the England squad, as well as the team’s successes in international games.

Taking on the role of Southgate is Joseph Fiennes, while the cast includes Gina McKee (Bodyguard) as Pippa Grange, sports psychologist and Head of People and Team Development at The Football Association from 2017 until 2019.

As you can see from the photos and comparisons with their on-pitch counterparts, some amazing work has been done in both casting (Bryony Jarvis-Taylor) and costume design (Evie Gurney), on top of that done by Goold.

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Also appearing are Josh Barrow as Jordan Pickford, Gunnar Cauthery as Gary Lineker, Will Close as Harry Kane, Crystal Condie as Alex Scott, Will Fletcher as Jordan Henderson, Sean Gilder as Sam Allardyce, Darragh Hand as Marcus Rashford, John Hodgkinson as Greg Clarke, Adam Hugill as Harry Maguire, Albert Magashi as Jadon Sancho, Kel Matsena as Raheem Sterling, Ebenezer Gyau as Bukayo Saka, Lewis Shepherd as Dele Alli, Paul Thornley as Mike Webster, Tony Turner as Greg Dyke and Ryan Whittle as Eric Dier.

The company is completed by Nick Barclay, Tashinga Bepete, Will Harrison-Wallace and Miranda Heath, while the cast will also be playing additional roles as part of the ensemble.

The show features set design by Es Devlin, costume design by Gurney, lighting design by Jon Clark, movement direction by Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf, sound design by Dan Balfour and Tom Gibbons, video design by Ash J Woodward, and casting by Bryony Jarvis-Taylor. Richard Ryder serves as dialect coach, with Elin Schofield as associate director.