Ncuti Gatwa, Edward Bluemel as Marlowe, Shakespeare Images Unveiled

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has released the first rehearsal images from “Born With Teeth,” offering a glimpse of Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare ahead of the production’s West End premiere next month.

The images show Gatwa (“Doctor Who,” “Sex Education”) and Bluemel (“Killing Eve,” “My Lady Jane”) in character for Liz Duffy Adams’ play, which imagines the relationship between the two Elizabethan literary giants. The RSC production, presented with Playful Productions and Elizabeth Williams, will run for 11 weeks at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre.

Ncuti Gatwa, Edward Bluemel – “Born With Teeth” rehearsal
Johan Persson

RSC co-artistic director Daniel Evans, a two-time Olivier Award winner, directs the drama that explores the dynamic between Marlowe — the “rockstar of Elizabethan theatre” and “scandalous spy for the Crown” — and Shakespeare, portrayed as a “jobbing actor” and “promising young playwright” dazzled by his contemporary’s talent.

Based on the theory that the two dramatists may have collaborated on the Henry VI history plays, Adams’ script delves into their relationship during what the production describes as “an extraordinarily dangerous time for artists.”

With preview performances beginning Aug. 13, with performances running through Nov. 1, the production features design by Olivier Award winner Joanna Scotcher and lighting design by Tony and Olivier Award winner Neil Austin. George Dennis provides sound design, Andrzej Goulding handles video design, and Ira Mandela Siobhan serves as movement director.

Producer 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.”

Matt Pettifor and Justice Ritchie serve as understudies for Shakespeare and Marlowe, respectively.