Liz Duffy Adams examines the relationship between two literary greats – William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe in Born With Teeth.

Starring Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel, Born With Teeth is now playing at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre and I went along to check it out.

In the late fifteen hundreds, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare were popular London playwrights. Marlow had success first with shows like Doctor Faustus and is said to have inspired Shakespeare in his work.

At the age of twenty-nine, Marlowe died in mysterious circumstances, cutting short his career, leaving Shakespeare to enjoy a long and successful life with a tremendous body of work that is still studied and adored today.

In 2016, it was revealed that the two scholars, Marlowe and Shakespeare, may have secretly written a series of Plays based on the life of Henry VI.

Playwright Liz Duffy Adams has taken this idea and created Born With Teeth, a new play imagining the relationship between two literary icons, at odds with their time.

In the backroom of a pub, Marlowe and Shakespeare gather together to thrash out a series of plays that they don’t think are very good but as they are successful, they are commissioned to write more. Locked away together in a creative union, there is conspiracy and paranoia. Sexuality and politics are tested and the rivals duel and flirt like their lives depend on it.

Born With Teeth feels like homoerotic fan fiction, based not around actual history but on an idea of what may have been. For hardcore history buffs this may provide an element of excitement but it didn’t leave me feeling inspired to want to find out more about this story.

★★★

West End Wilma

Find out more about Born With Teeth

Who is Ncuti Gatwa?

Ncuti Gatwa (Christopher Marlowe) is a Rwandan Scottish BAFTA award-winning actor.

In 2023 audiences saw Ncuti unveiled as the fifteenth ‘Doctor’ in Doctor on BBC One.

In 2024, Ncuti made his National Theatre debut as ‘Algernon Moncrieff’ in The Importance of Being Earnest. The play opened in November to rave reviews and was nominated for an Olivier Award in the category of ‘Best Revival’.

Ncuti is perhaps best known for his BAFTA award-winning role of ‘Eric Effiong’, one of the leading roles in Netflix’s hugely successful comedy series Sex Education.

In 2023, he appeared in Barbie opposite Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, playing a version of ‘Ken’ in the film hit of the summer.

Who is Edward Bluemel?

Edward Bluemel (William Shakespeare) trained at the prestigious Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama before making his screen debut as the lead in the British indie film Access all Areas (2017).

Most recently, Edward wrapped filming Netflix’s The Seven Dials Mystery, starring opposite Martin Freeman and Helena Bonham Carter. He was also seen as the co-lead in Amazon Prime’s My Lady Jane and starred as Levi in the hit BBC series We Might Regret This.

Edward gained widespread recognition as a series regular in Season 2 of BBC’S Killing Eve, appearing alongside Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, and Fiona Shaw in the acclaimed espionage thriller. He also played Sean in Netflix’s Sex Education (Season 1 & 4), starring opposite Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield, and portrayed Marcus Whitmore in Sky One’s A Discovery of Witches.

On stage, Edward’s theatre credits include leading roles in Trevor Nunn’s critically acclaimed Love in Idleness (West End) and Touch (Soho Theatre).