Born With Teeth
Closing: November 01, 2025Born With Teeth - 2025 West End History , Info & More
Wyndham's Theatre
(Leicester Square) Charing Cross Road London
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.
Born With Teeth - 2025 - West End Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Born With Teeth
Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel are a perfect pair in this sexually charged sparring match
8 / 10
Both actors sink their teeth into this juicy material. Gatwa is a charismatic force of nature as Marlowe, whether snorting drugs, swishing his cape like a matador, stroking his “throbbing quill”, or leaping across the table to pounce on Shakespeare – who compares flirting with him to “petting a leopard”. Yet he also wonders, poignantly, if his work will grant him immortality. Bluemel gives us an effectively hesitant young Bard who grows in confidence and stature as his artistic genius emerges. An electrifying exchange sees the pair acting out Shakespeare’s farewell scene in Henry VI – art that reveals real emotion, proving the power of his approach.
Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel are playwrights dancing with death
6 / 10
The most interesting sections – at least if you care about Shakespeare – are those which probe the differences between the two writers. Marlowe insists on inserting his own bold personality and controversial beliefs into every line he wrote while Shakespeare’s instinct is to disappear, to lose himself in every character. The moment when the two men act out Shakepeare’s inserted scene in Henry VI showing the love between a husband and wife is remarkably tender. The play’s concluding note, that Shakespeare consistently wrote Marlowe (who died in a tavern brawl in 1593 at the age of 29) back to life is intriguing.
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by Aliya Al-Hassan - September 3, 2025
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.
by Cindy Marcolina - September 2, 2025
“Does my flesh dazzle you?” a lascivious Christopher Marlowe asks a flustered William Shakespeare in what we can only describe as an exceptional example of theatrical slash fiction. For the uninitiated, “slash fiction” is a genre of fanfiction that focuses on the romantic relation between preexisting fictional characters of the same sex. Liz Duffy Adams’s Born With Teeth brings the female gaze to the West End. Directed by Daniel Evans and starring Ncuti Gatwa alongside Edward Bluemel, 90 steamy minutes of action puts two most venerated playwrights in England together like we’ve only ever found on websites like AO3 (Archive Of Our Own, the biggest fan-run fanfiction platform) and Tumblr.
by Chloe Rabinowitz - August 15, 2025
You can now get a first look at Ncuti Gatwa as Kit Marlowe and Edward Bluemel as William Shakespeare in Born With Teeth, which marks its West End premiere presented by Playful Productions, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Elizabeth Williams.
by Stephi Wild - April 16, 2025
Tickets are now on general sale for the West End premiere of Born With Teeth, featuring Ncuti Gatwa as Christopher Marlowe and Edward Bluemel as William Shakespeare.
Born With Teeth History
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