Dear England stars Samantha Womack and David Sturzaker talk ahead of football smash hit's Birmingham Hippdrome run

“They are fought over by different clubs. But with pressure can come vulnerability. That’s something Dear England digs into.”

Sturzaker, best known as Dr Simon Bond from the BBC’s popular Doctors, is stepping into the role of Gareth Southgate in the National Theatre’s touring production of James Graham's award-winning play about the England men’s football team Dear England. He is struck by just how pertinent the play’s themes are, as definitions of modern masculinity come under the microscope.

"James has given a real insight into things that people might not necessarily know about these young men that we see week in, week out on the football pitch. They are incredibly rich, they’re incredibly famous and lauded by millions of people. But they’re human beings as well," Sturzaker says.

“The play’s asking what it is to be a man in society today. It asks lots of questions about vulnerability, mental health and masculinity as well as questions about national and personal identity. It’s great if people go away thinking about those issues.”

Dear England manages to raise those topics while being immensely entertaining and funny at the same time. 

Samantha Womack, who plays Pippa Grange, the psychologist who comes in to help Southgate introduce new, more caring ways of thinking into the national game, is struck by the energy of the piece.

“I haven’t played football myself, but it does feel like a Roman arena for all life,” she says.

“You’ve got the purity of the game, and the passion, youth and belief in the players, but it’s all contained in a very capitalist world that’s becoming ever more terrifying. When David as Gareth talks about missing that penalty at Euro 96, it’s a very visceral speech of how he felt and what was happening in the country. It does tell the story of the world with the premise of English football behind it.”

Womack, who is familiar to television viewers for her decade-long run as Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders, is enjoying playing Pippa. 

“When you are inhabiting Pippa there’s a different dynamic because she has got this beautiful ability to create space for people,” she says. “I’m really enjoying her calm and togetherness.” Hers is the principal female part in a cast of 23 – although the Lionesses do make a victorious appearance. 

At the age of 52, she worried at first about being surrounded by a cast who are principally the age of her son Ben, who is 24 (she also has a stepson who is 30 and a daughter, aged 20). “I wondered how I would find my space,” she says. “But they are such an incredible bunch of people and really inclusive. There is such positivity.”

Sturzaker, who has a son aged six and a daughter aged eight with his actor wife Jo Herbert, agrees.

“There is a fantastic sense of camaraderie which is amazing because it is such a big company. The work has been fantastic but it’s also good fun.”

Although both actors are best known for their television work, both love being on stage. In recent years Womack has had breast cancer and in the past 18 months has taken time away from acting at her home in Spain, simply to have a break that allowed her to consider what she wanted to do next. “I’ve always done more theatre than telly,” she says. 

“But I’ve realised as I get older that I really struggle with the way that TV and film – unless you’re working with someone like Ken Loach who does chronological filming – dissect a piece, so you are repeating scenes and filming them out of order. I find that tough.

“I love the simplicity of just feeling something and transmitting it. I love the creative control from the beginning, middle and end, and the feeling of synergy with everyone on stage and in the audience.”

Sturzaker, who lives in South London, has also worked extensively on stage.

“Often on TV or film, you just pop in for a day or two over a couple of weeks and it’s harder to get that sense of community,” he says. “But with a play, and particularly a play where we are all touring for six months, there’s a real sense of it. To tell a story from beginning to end over one night, or one afternoon, is priceless. So is the fact that it is live, and you get that immediate audience reaction as opposed to just hearing the word ‘cut’.”

Womack believes that a tour such as this one, which is taking Dear England to parts of the country that are less well served by serious drama, is particularly valuable. 

“Post Covid, there’s been a real lack of decent straight drama,” she says. 

“I was trying to produce a couple of things, put on two- to four-handers with simple sets, light in terms of finance and commitment. But we struggled to get the idea onto a secure footing. All the theatres said yes, but in terms of securing finance, we found it difficult. I am proud to be part of a subsidised theatre like the National which is committed to bringing this kind of play on tour. The themes are strong. It’s not a risk, it’s what we should be doing.” 

Sturzaker enjoys the simple act of being on the road. “I haven’t toured for about 11 years, and I do miss my family,” he says. “But I like the idea of being self-sufficient. It’s a relatively simple life, and you get to see different parts of the country which is great.”

Womack is particularly self-sufficient: she tours in a camper van, accompanied by at least three of her six rescued dogs. She’s rented a van for this tour – while giving her own adapted camper to two other cast members.

Perhaps they will all end up in her van, having cups of tea? “There’s no room,” she says, laughing. “I keep adding dogs!”

Dear England, the uplifting, thought-provoking and inspiring play about Gareth Southgate’s England men’s football team, is visiting Birmingham Hippodrome, on tour from Tuesday until Saturday (March 10-14).

“I love Birmingham,” says Womack.

“It has got some of the best Chinese restaurants I’ve ever been to, just opposite the Hippodrome. I took a friend to one once, and he ended up travelling from London just to eat there again because it was so great.”

“I lived in Birmingham for two years when we were filming Doctors,” says Sturzaker. “I had a great time. I was in my early 30s and really putting my roots down somewhere – I lived in Moseley – while doing a job was a rare experience. It was fantastic.”

Dear England is at Birmingham Hippodrome from March 10 until March 14. Tickets can be purchased at birminghamhippodrome.com or by calling 0121 689 3000.