I went to the National Theatre to see Dear England by James Graham. Weeks ago, I wrote about his play Punch, in this one he takes on the story of the England Football team stuck in a space of never winning a tournament and always losing penalty shootouts. Enter Gareth Southgate.
Over nearly three hours, he shows us how Gareth got everyone to make new stories, to open up to each other and be more honest about their feelings. He used a sports psychologist called Pippa Grange, who boiled the problem down to fear. She proved that a fear of failing the nation crippled the team particularly in crucial moments like shootouts. It took time, but Gareth was able to change the culture in the club and lead them to 4th in the 2020 Euros and the quarter final of the World Cup in 2022. He had to overcome underperformance and a lack of cohesion between the players, but he stuck with it and turned this team around. He even addressed racism, inequality and mental health.
The stage was brilliantly set up as a football stadium with clever lighting and excellent sound, so that you felt like you were there. The highlights of the show featured some penalty shootouts, and you would never have thought you could make those moments work on a stage. I’m more of a rugby fan, but I usually watch England football games, especially big ones. Here they managed to find actors who looked like the real people, so we went behind the scenes and we felt we were eavesdropping on real events. It was the same with Gareth Southgate; after a few minutes, you just believed it was him.
There’s a great crossover to our world of the performing arts because it’s all about performance. Pippa Grange says that when you analyse a moment that went wrong, you don’t say, “This is where you mucked up”, you say,
“What do you see here?
What was going on for you out there?
What do you think caused that error?
What will help you the next time this comes up?”
If you think you make a mistake and think you’re a loser, then you are likely to believe there are special people and you’re not one of them, and then you’re more likely not to try at all.
Many of us fear failure and find ways to avoid facing up to things. Out there in the stadium, the players are facing a huge level of expectation from the fans, but it boils down to the same fears we all carry around with us. “I’m no good, I’ll be found out, I’m nothing.”
The rehearsal room is a great place to find some solutions for this negative way of thinking.
