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In these dangerous times, who will burn brightest — and who will burn out?
Winter 1591.
It is a dangerous time for artists: the country is full of conspiracy and paranoia.
In the backroom of a pub, writing sensations Kit Marlowe and Will Shakespeare are forced together in a creative union. Alone, with the table as their stage and battlefield, they sharpen their pens – and let their genius fly.
Across three secret meetings, the rivals duel and flirt like their lives depend on it – and with spies everywhere, betrayal is so tempting.
Marking its West End premiere this summer, Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth is a thrilling imagining of the relationship between two literary icons at odds with their time.
RSC Co-Artistic Director Daniel Evans directs Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who, Sex Education) and Edward Bluemel (Killing Eve, My Lady Jane) as the poets who square off in a game of wits, words, and powerplay.
Performances begin 13 August for a strictly limited 11-week season at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre.
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Audio Described Performance: 20 September 2025 at 2.30pm, Captioned Performance: 4 October 2025 at 2.30pmLatest Born with Teeth News
News / Features / New Shows + Transfers / Photos
First look: Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel star in Born With Teeth
Previews are underway for Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth at Wyndham’s Theatre, and with today’s release of production photos, audiences can finally get a glimpse of the charged world Marlowe (Ncuti Gatwa) and Shakespeare (Edward Bluemel) inhabit.
Directed by Daniel Evans, this biting two-hander imagines an unlikely secret meeting between Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare in the icy winter of 1591. Political danger, artistic rivalry and conspiratorial whispers swirl around them, while these literary giants size each other up in a battle of words. Think of a spy thriller, but with sonnets.
18 Aug, 2025 | By Sian McBride
News / Features / New Shows + Transfers
What is Born With Teeth?
Marking its West End premiere this summer, Born With Teeth is a fiery, fast-paced two-hander that pits two of England's greatest literary minds against one another. Starring Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel, here is everything you need to know about London’s hottest new play.
The Prologue
Following its 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award win, Born With Teeth premiered at the Alley Theatre in Texas. Instantly catching the attention of critics and audiences alike, Liz Duffy Adams’ play was hailed for its sharp dialogue, intellectual seduction, and brilliant character work. It became a standout new work, lauded for both its literary sophistication and emotional impact, and was quickly produced an incredible 80 times! The play now makes its transatlantic leap to London, bringing its taut and tantalising energy to a whole new audience.
The Story
Set in the chilling winter of 1591. England is on edge - paranoia, conspiracy, and political suspicion are in the air. In this fraught atmosphere, two rising stars of the Elizabethan stage - Christopher “Kit” Marlowe and William Shakespeare - are thrown together in the backroom of a tavern. With nothing but a table between them, they are tasked with collaborating, but what ensues is far from peaceful.
They are rivals, they are muses, they are potential threats to each other - and in a world where spies lurk in every corner and loyalty is a fragile thing, every word they write could be a weapon, every line a trap. Over the course of three secret meetings, their minds clash and ignite, navigating ambition, flirtation, and the ever-looming spectre of betrayal.
16 Apr, 2025 | By Sian McBride