A play for football fans far and wide is being broadcast at the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven at the end of next month.

Dear England, a new play by James Graham, directed by Rupert Goold Joseph Fiennes (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays Gareth Southgate in James Graham’s (Sherwood) gripping examination of nation and game.

The country that gave the world football has since delivered a painful pattern of loss. Why can’t England’s men win at their own game? With the worst track record for penalties in the world, 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. Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Rupert Goold (Judy) directs this spectacular new play.

The play’s writer James Graham is described by The Guardian as someone who “cannot resist infusing football with politics, with comic cameos from the likes of Theresa May and Boris Johnson, which are very amusing, almost Spitting Image-style imitations.”

The reviewer goes on to say that viewers are in for a real treat, adding that there are “quick glances to the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement too, along with an interrogation of Englishness and the flag” – a little too brief for Guardian readers’ liking though. “Racism – within the footballing community or between team members – is touched upon rather than explored.”

Dear England will be broadcast at the Torch Theatre on Tuesday, January 30 at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased from the Box Office Torch Theatre on 01646 695267 or torchtheatre.co.uk.