No longer booking
  • Venue Wyndham's Theatre, London
  • Performance dates Booking to 1 November 2025
  • Running time 90 minutes (no interval)
  • Age guidelines 14+

Born With Teeth Tickets London – Final Weeks

Get tickets to Born With Teeth in London starring Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel.

Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who) and Edward Bluemel (Sex Education) star in a razor-sharp, high-stakes encounter between two literary giants — Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare.

What happens when the two greatest writers of the Elizabethan age are forced to share a room—and a deadline? If only they’d stop bickering long enough to pick up a quill.

In Born With Teeth, American playwright Liz Duffy Adams imagines an explosive meeting of minds between William Shakespeare (Edward Bluemel) and Christopher Marlowe (Ncuti Gatwa) — one bold, reckless, and already infamous; the other on the cusp of greatness but not yet a legend. The result? A darkly comic battle of wits and wills, as the two spar, flirt, drink, and attempt to collaborate on a dangerous new play cycle.

All the while, the clock ticks. Spies lurk in every corner. The old queen is dying. And the wrong words could get them both killed.

Co-produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and Playful Productions, this critically acclaimed two-hander makes its UK premiere in 2025 for a strictly limited 11 week season at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London, in a major new production that promises tension, passion, and piercing contemporary resonance.

Born With Teeth is a play for anyone who loves language, politics, or a well-timed dagger look across a candlelit pub table.

Born With Teeth is playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London from 13 August to 1 November 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.

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Performance Information

Check booking calendar for full details

Stars and Creatives

Edward Bluemel | Actor – Bio & Credits
Edward Bluemel | Actor – Bio & Credits
Ncuti Gatwa | Actor – Bio & Credits
Ncuti Gatwa | Actor – Bio & Credits

Who is in the cast of Born With Teeth?

  • Ncuti Gatwa as Christopher Marlowe
  • Edward Bluemel as William Shakespeare
  • Understudies: Matt Pettifor as William Shakespeare & Justice Ritchie as Christopher Marlowe

Who are the creative team of Born With Teeth?

  • Written by Liz Duffy Adams
  • Directed by Daniel Evans
  • Design by Joanna Scotcher
  • Lighting design by Neil Austin
  • Sound design by George Dennis
  • Video design by Andrzej Goulding
  • Movement by Ira Mandela Siobhan
  • Casting by Charlotte Sutton

Important Notes

Please note: This performance features very bright lights, haze, loud noises and strong language.

Access performances: Captioned performance: Saturday 4 October 2.30pm

Venue Information

Wyndham's Theatre , 32-36 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0DA

Nearest Tube or Train: Leicester Square (Northern line, Piccadilly line)

Nearest Buses: 24, 29, 176

Directions

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Critics' reviews of Born With Teeth

★★★★★ "Daniel Evans’s steamy production fizzes with rare theatrical chemistry" - Daily Mail

★★★★ "Seductively clever work from Ncuti Gatwa... enormous fun" - Evening Standard

★★★★ "A firecracker of a play... dazzlingly performed" - Financial Times

★★★★ "Edward Bleumel and Ncuti Gatwa thrill in intoxicating Shakespeare drama" - Express

★★★★ "Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel are a perfect pair in this sexually charged sparring match" - London Theatre

● "There’s delight to be had in seeing a friskily rivalrous rapport form between the famous duo" - Telegraph

● "Evans directs with considerable force and zero period fluff" - TimeOut

● "Liz Duffy Adams’ sizzling new chamber play" - Guardian

● "The dialogue is snappy, and often very funny... Gatwa is electricfying as Marlowe" - What's On Stage

● "Liz Duffy Adams' riotous reinvention" - Express

Also see: Born With Teeth Reviews Round-up

Frequently Asked Questions

Born With Teeth is playing at the Wyndham's Theatre in London
The running time of Born With Teeth is 90 minutes (no interval)
The age recommendations for Born With Teeth are: 14+
Yes, Born With Teeth has matinee performances on the following days: Wednesday, Saturday
No, sorry, Born With Teeth has now completed its run and is no longer on sale.

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