Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel Will Lead BORN WITH TEETH at Wyndham's Theatre
Performances begin on 13 August.
By: Stephi Wild Apr. 11, 2025
Born With Teeth will make its West End premiere, featuring Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who, The Importance of Being Earnest) as Christopher Marlowe and Edward Bluemel (Killing Eve, Sex Education) as William Shakespeare.
This new play by Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between two literary icons at odds with their time.
The production will see RSC Co-Artistic Director, Daniel Evans make his directorial debut for the company, following previous, critically acclaimed productions of Quiz, American Buffalo, South Pacific and Our Generation. Design is by the Olivier award-winning Joanna Scotcher and Lighting Design by Tony and Olivier award-winner Neil Austin. The Casting Director is Charlotte Sutton with further creative team to be announced.
Born With Teeth will play at Wyndham's Theatre, a Delfont Mackintosh Theatre, for a strictly limited 11-week season until Saturday 1 November, with a first preview on Wednesday 13 August. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 16 April 2025 with priority booking from Friday 11 April. For more information visit BornWithTeethPlay.com
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.
Marking its West End premiere this summer, Liz Duffy Adams' Born With Teeth is a thrilling imagining of the relationship between two literary icons at odds with their time.
Ncuti Gatwa said: “I'm so excited to be joining Born With Teeth alongside the amazing Edward Bluemel. 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”.
Edward Bluemel said: “I feel incredibly proud and excited to be working with Ncuti Gatwa and Daniel Evans on the European premiere of Born With Teeth. 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. There's a real freshness and vitality to Liz's writing that speaks directly to our world, and I can't wait for West End audiences to experience it for the first time”.
Matthew Byam Shaw, Nia Janis and Nick Salmon from Playful Productions said: “It is wonderful to be continuing our relationship with the RSC and Daniel Evans with whom Matthew has been collaborating for nearly 20 years. We cannot wait for the entire team to bring this brilliant play to life on stage at Wyndham's Theatre and for audiences to join them."
Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, Co-Artistic Directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company said: “We're so excited to be bringing Liz Duffy Adams' Born With Teeth to Wyndham's Theatre alongside our partners Playful Productions and Elizabeth Williams for Grain of Sand Productions. 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.”
Elizabeth Williams said: “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.”
Ncuti Gatwa (Christopher Marlowe) is a Rwandan Scottish BAFTA award-winning actor. In 2023 audiences saw Ncuti unveiled as the fifteenth ‘Doctor' as he bi-generated from David Tennant's ‘Doctor' at the end of ‘The Giggle', the final of the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials. Last year Ncuti was seen as ‘The Doctor' in his first full season of Doctor Who on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and Ireland, and across the world globally on Disney+. Ncuti won a BAFTA Cymru Award and was also nominated for a Critics Choice Award and BAFTA Scotland Audience Award for the role. Ncuti will reprise his role as ‘The Doctor' in his second season of Doctor Who coming to the BBC and Disney+ from 12 April, where he will be joined by new companion ‘Belinda Chandra' played by Varada Sethu, and by a host of guest stars including Jonah Hauer-King, Freddie Fox, Ariyon Bakare and Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Last year Ncuti wrapped production on Jay Roach's movie The Roses. A reimagining of the iconic The War of the Roses the film stars Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch and will release in cinemas worldwide later this summer.
In 2024, Ncuti made his National Theatre debut as ‘Algernon Moncrieff' in The Importance of Being Earnest. The play opened in November to rave reviews and was nominated for an Olivier Award in the category of ‘Best Revival'.
Ncuti is perhaps best known for his BAFTA award-winning role of ‘Eric Effiong', one of the leading roles in Netflix's hugely successful comedy series Sex Education. Created by Laurie Nunn the show also stars Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson and Emma Mackey. All four seasons of the show are available worldwide on Netflix. In 2023, he appeared in Barbie opposite Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, playing a version of ‘Ken' in the film hit of the summer. He also played a guest role in the highly anticipated series, Masters of the Air for Apple TV+ opposite a cast led by Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan and Austin Butler.
In 2023 Ncuti performed at King Charles' Coronation Concert, playing ‘Romeo' opposite Mei Mac as his ‘Juliet' in Romeo & Juliet for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The performance was the first ever collaboration between the royal patronages and included The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera, The Royal College of Music & The Royal College of Art.
Edward Bluemel (William Shakespeare) trained at the prestigious Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama before making his screen debut as the lead in the British indie film Access all Areas (2017).
Most recently, Edward wrapped filming Netflix's The Seven Dials Mystery, starring opposite Martin Freeman and Helena Bonham Carter. He was also seen as the co-lead in Amazon Prime's My Lady Jane and starred as Levi in the hit BBC series We Might Regret This.
Edward gained widespread recognition as a series regular in Season 2 of BBC'S Killing Eve, appearing alongside Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, and Fiona Shaw in the acclaimed espionage thriller. He also played Sean in Netflix's Sex Education (Season 1 & 4), starring opposite Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield, and portrayed Marcus Whitmore in Sky One's A Discovery of Witches.
On stage, Edward's theatre credits include leading roles in Trevor Nunn's critically acclaimed Love in Idleness (West End) and Touch (Soho Theatre).
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