BORN WITH TEETH | WYNDHAM’S THEATRE. LONDON
★★★
“A volatile mix of lust, duplicity, infatuation, politics and betrayal…”
Elizabethan England’s two greatest poets, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, meet in a series of secret liaisons. They are uniting simply to collaborate on a history play, or are they? Such is the pretext of the RSC’s production of Liz Duffy Adams’ 2022 play, Born With Teeth.
There are those who have long questioned the provenance of the works of William Shakespeare. Did he write alone? Was Shakespeare a nom de plume for another writer or group of writers? Or perhaps ‘Shakespeare’ was actually Kit Marlowe? Many theories have been voiced. Consequently in the world of The Bard, conspiracies abound, fitting, as conspiracy lay at the heart of Elizabeth I’s totalitarian England, a police state where Catholics lived in fear, the secret service thrived, and being a poet left you exposed and open to the charge of subversion.
And so via a digital preset, a tad anachronistic and just a little jarring, we are introduced to Marlowe and Shakespeare, both dangling from ropes, the former by his ankles. Dangerous times indeed, but of course, this scenario ‘never happened’ as Marlowe later explains, taking on the role of narrator in this 90 minute, three act play with no interval.
A two-hander set in a room bare but for a wooden table, a brace of chairs and a collection of stools, there is little doubt many are here to see former Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa, in the role of Marlowe, but it’s his Sex Education co-star Edward Bluemel, as Shakespeare, who proves a revelation.
As the rivals come together over three meetings, they duel and flirt like their lives depend on it, which, considering the political climate of the day, they probably did. The threat of betrayal is never far away in this fast-paced tale of obsession.
In their roles, Gatwa and Bluemel share a flirtatiously playful energy and if this Kit Marlowe had a middle initial, there’s little doubt it would be ‘P’ – p for preening, or prancing, or pouting, or posturing. Gatwa is never subtle and has fun flouncing about the stage in his designer ‘leather’ doublet and hose, occasionally expressing flashes of petulance, all the while relying on his innate charisma to enchant his audience.
Bluemel, on the other hand, brings a multi-layered truth to his Shakespeare; a confused, tempted, scared and vulnerable man. A deft practitioner of his craft, Bluemel proves a warm and captivating storyteller with an impressive stage presence.
A volatile mix of lust, duplicity, infatuation, politics and betrayal inform Duffy Adams script. However, sharp and witty as it is, it remains light and somehow hollow; the opening scene finds the married, persuadable, yet reluctant Bard being wooed by his flamboyant collaborator and that pretty much sets the model for all that is to follow as they squabble, tease and bicker… on repeat.
If Neil Austin’s stylish lighting design, three banks of powerful lamps (one stage right, one stage left and another up stage) frame the action nicely, the same can’t be said for Daniel Evan’s direction; with just Joanna Scotcher’s sparse set design and two actors to accommodate, he still frustratingly manages to allow the action to occasionally stray outwith the sight lines of the audience.
The real bite of this play, however, comes in the final act, which takes place on 30 May 1593, the day Marlowe was murdered, at the age of 29. It’s a poignant, thought-provoking ending that speaks to the world today as much as then, unless you fall into the Marlovian camp who believe Marlowe’s death was faked and that it was he who wrote the works of Shakespeare we know so well today… but that’s a whole different play.
Ends 1 November. Tickets here.
