Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel to star in Born With Teeth in the West End

Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth will have its West End premiere this summer.

The two-hander imagines the relationship between Marlowe and Shakespeare at a time of political danger and artistic rivalry. The play is set in the winter of 1591, where the two writers meet in secret, developing a tense and complex connection against a backdrop of conspiracy and surveillance.

The production will star Ncuti Gatwa as Christopher Marlowe and Edward Bluemel as William Shakespeare.

Gatwa said he was excited to join Born With Teeth alongside Bluemel adding: “Liz Duffy Adams has written an exceptional play that is smart, dark, sexy, sharp and funny! There’s a lot to get one’s teeth into. This is like no version of Shakespeare and Marlowe that I’ve ever seen before, and I can’t wait for audiences to join us for the ride.”

Daniel Evans, co-artistic director of the RSC, will direct the production, which marks his first West End project with the company. His previous credits include Quiz, American Buffalo, South Pacific and Our Generation. The design is by Joanna Scotcher, with lighting design by Neil Austin. Casting is by Charlotte Sutton, with the remainder of the creative team to be announced.

Bluemel added: “To be stepping into the shoes of a young William Shakespeare is a huge thrill for any actor and I can’t wait to get started. When I read Liz Duffy Adams’ script, I was instantly drawn into the high-stakes world of these two rival playwrights and the incredible, creative chemistry they share.”

Matthew Byam Shaw, Nia Janis and Nick Salmon of Playful Productions expressed their enthusiasm for continuing their collaboration with the RSC and Evans, a relationship that has lasted 20 years.

The play will run at Wyndham’s Theatre, a Delfont Mackintosh venue, for an 11-week season from 13 August to 1 November 2025. Tickets will go on sale to the public from 16 April, with priority booking from 11 April. Two thousand tickets priced at £10 will be available for 16 to 25 year olds, sponsored by TikTok.

Evans and co-artistic director Tamara Harvey said: “As our seventh production to be presented in London in 2025, we look forward to sharing more of the RSC’s work with audiences in the capital and are thrilled that two such extraordinary actors as Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel will be joining us on that journey this summer.”

Williams concluded: “It is rare in my many years as a West End and Broadway producer to read a play like Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth which from the first sentence, thrills.

“Our playwright seems to have channeled directly from the 1590s this story of the intersection of the contemporary lives of these two great poets, Marlowe and Shakespeare, and it is brilliant in conception and ferociously sexy.”

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