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Born With Teeth London tickets
Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel star in the West End premiere of Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth. Playing a strictly limited 11-week season at the Wyndham’s Theatre, book your official tickets today!
About Born With Teeth
Winter, 1591. England is a tinderbox of religious persecution, political unrest, and whispered treason. In a shadowy backroom of a London pub, two of the country’s most brilliant—and dangerous—young writers are brought together in secret: Christopher Marlowe, the bold, reckless, and state-employed playwright-spy, and William Shakespeare, the ambitious newcomer with everything to prove.
Over the course of three covert meetings, these literary titans circle each other in a volatile mix of rivalry, flirtation, and creative fervor. With only a table between them, their words become weapons and seductions, as they test boundaries—personal, political, and poetic. As their connection deepens, so does the danger. With spies on every corner and betrayal only ever a heartbeat away, their union—professional and otherwise—could either make their legends... or cost them their lives.
A gripping two-hander pulsing with wit, tension, and erotic undercurrents, Born With Teeth imagines the combustible alchemy of genius, desire, and fear in a time when every word could be your last.
Facts and critical acclaim
- Born With Teeth was awarded the 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and won the Houston Theater Awards 2022 Best Play/Production, Best New Play, and Best Actors.
- Ncuti Gatwa won seven awards for his breakthrough performance as Eric in Sex Education, including an RTS, BAFTA Scotland and National Comedy Award. He is currently the 15th Doctor in Doctor Who.
- Edward Bluemel starred in countless smash-hit series, including; Killing Eve, Sex Education, My Lady Jane and We Might Regret This.
- Liz Duffy Adams is the recipient of the 2012 Women of Achievement award from the Women's Project Theater, the 2010 Lily Award for Playwriting, the 2008 Weston Playhouse Music-Theatre award, and the 2006 NYFA award.
Born With Teeth cast
- Christopher Marlowe - Ncuti Gatwa
- William Shakespeare - Edward Bluemel
Born with Teeth creatives
- Book - Liz Duffy Adams
- Director - Daniel Evans
Access
Audio Described Performance: 20 September 2025 at 2.30pm, Captioned Performance: 4 October 2025 at 2.30pmLatest Born with Teeth News
News / Features / New Shows + Transfers
What is Born With Teeth?
Marking its West End premiere this summer, Born With Teeth is a fiery, fast-paced two-hander that pits two of England's greatest literary minds against one another. Starring Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel, here is everything you need to know about London’s hottest new play.
The Prologue
Following its 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award win, Born With Teeth premiered at the Alley Theatre in Texas. Instantly catching the attention of critics and audiences alike, Liz Duffy Adams’ play was hailed for its sharp dialogue, intellectual seduction, and brilliant character work. It became a standout new work, lauded for both its literary sophistication and emotional impact, and was quickly produced an incredible 80 times! The play now makes its transatlantic leap to London, bringing its taut and tantalising energy to a whole new audience.
The Story
Set in the chilling winter of 1591. England is on edge - paranoia, conspiracy, and political suspicion are in the air. In this fraught atmosphere, two rising stars of the Elizabethan stage - Christopher “Kit” Marlowe and William Shakespeare - are thrown together in the backroom of a tavern. With nothing but a table between them, they are tasked with collaborating, but what ensues is far from peaceful.
They are rivals, they are muses, they are potential threats to each other - and in a world where spies lurk in every corner and loyalty is a fragile thing, every word they write could be a weapon, every line a trap. Over the course of three secret meetings, their minds clash and ignite, navigating ambition, flirtation, and the ever-looming spectre of betrayal.
16 Apr, 2025 | By Sian McBride
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