Kit Marlowe, already infamous and dangerously embroiled in espionage, is dangerous - part seducer, part spy, part predator. While William Shakespeare, a naive upstart crow, treads the line between admiration and fear. He’s drawn to Marlowe’s brilliance yet wary of being pulled into his orbit. As the two collaborate on Henry VI, Kit presses Shakespeare's buttons; physically, emotionally, politically. He wants his body as much as his words, but he also wants something else: the name of a traitor, a gift that might keep the noose from tightening around his own neck. Their relationship flits between attraction, rivalry, and betrayal, a sparring match of lust and wit that's as brutal as Titus Andronicus and just as thrilling.
However, unlike a 3 hour epic written over 400 years ago, the pace never relaxes. Gatwa prowls the stage with athleticism, leaping from table to floor with the physicality of a predator. His smirk beams brighter than the tower of lights that accompany him on the stage, his every movement loaded with menace and desire. Marlowe is arrogant and manipulative, but with Gatwa's charisma and wicked wit shining throughout, you can’t help but love him. Bluemel, meanwhile, radiates charm and magnetism, matching Gatwa line for line and tempering Marlowe’s fire with humour and humanity. Their chemistry is electric; volatile, unpredictable, and endlessly watchable.
The production tears through complex subjects with biting humour, pulling the audience from dread to laughter in a heartbeat, while still keeping them at the edge of their seat. Unsure of what direction it could go in next. The show’s as seductive as it is dangerous, as funny as it is devastating. It chews you up, spits you out, and leaves you thoroughly exhausted.
Fast, fiery, and impossible to shake off, Born With Teeth leaves its mark.
Born With Teeth plays at the Wyndham's Theatre until 1st November 2025.