The actors take on the political, creative and romantic tensions between the great Elizabethan dramatists in ‘Born with Teeth’
In a production office in the heart of London’s West End, I’m looking at William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe perched at either end of a smart red sofa behind a plate of pastries.
Well, sadly not. Mortality saw to that. But what a thought! Those two theatrical geniuses thrust together in one small room, elbow-to-elbow, eyeball-to-eyeball. And that’s the intoxicating premise of Liz Duffy Adams’ sizzling drama Born with Teeth, about to have its European premiere in London. Sitting on the sofa are the actors tasked with bringing these two luminaries to life: Ncuti Gatwa (Marlowe) and Edward Bluemel (Shakespeare). They seem remarkably chilled, considering.
“It’s a time machine — a little Tardis,” says Gatwa, of the play, to Bluemel’s delight. (Gatwa until recently played Doctor Who in the much-loved BBC TV series.) Both actors appeared in Netflix’s joyous teen comedy Sex Education and share an easy rapport.
This particular time machine spirits us back to 1591 and a cramped little room in a tavern, where the Elizabethan dramatists are sweating over Henry VI. Key to Adams’ play is the 2016 breakthrough on Marlowe as co-author of Shakespeare’s early history trilogy. Following research from 23 academics, Oxford University Press’s New Oxford Shakespeare now credits both writers….