Edward Bluemel and Ncuti Gatwa are magnificent casting choices for new writing in the West End

Few who went to Shakespeare’s Globe during the summer of 2016 will forget the entrancing alchemy of Emma Rice’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring a sublime performance from one rising star Ncuti Gatwa, whose Demetrius felt rent, exhausted and, most importantly, heartbreakingly sympathetic.

Mere months and a matter of metres later, the Menier Chocolate Factory hosted a mightily impressive revival of Terence Rattigan’s Love in Idleness, with an insufferably amiable comedic turn courtesy of one Edward Bluemel.

Both Gatwa and Bluemel have, in the intervening eight years, bagged some major screen roles between them – Gatwa first as Eric in Sex Education and then as the swashbuckling Time Lord in Doctor Who. Bluemel has had a similarly strong run of credits to his name: A Discovery of Witches, Sex Education, Killing Eve, Persuasion and Ten Percent. 

It’s well-documented that big TV output and successes sit on the shoulders of the gigantic power of the live performing arts industry in the UK. Time and again big Netflix hits like Baby Reindeer and Adolescence tap into that vein of brilliant stage talent in order to deliver world-beating, and conversation-starting, screen experiences.

So kudos, therefore, to casting director Charlotte Sutton, for tapping into that reciprocal power between stage and streaming service in her moves for Born with Teeth, the new two-hander heading to the West End this summer. Riding high on the back of a new season of Doctor Who, Gatwa’s star continues to shine brightly, while Bluemel was a “mane” attraction (misspelling intended) in the impressive yet cancelled-too-soon Tudor revisionist comedy My Lady Jane.

With all the debate around celebrity casting, there’s something immensely satisfying in knowing that talent that evolved through UK theatre continues to give back – as Gatwa did with his hugely arresting performance in The Importance of Being Earnest at the National Theatre last Christmas.

Bringing new writing to the West End is never an easy feat, but when you can attract audiences that are drawn to homegrown stars due to their screen credentials and assisted by accessible pricing and additional schemes (hoorray for TikTok!), everyone wins.

One final thought: this is the seventh RSC production currently set for London this year alone. Alongside national tours, video games and major research and education programmes, Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans may have pulled off one of the finest streaks of artistic programming this century in their first few years at the organisation.