Born with Teeth

by Liz Duffy Adams

An aging ruler, an oppressive police state, a restless polarized people seething with paranoia: it’s a dangerous time for poets. Two of them—the great Kit Marlowe and the up-and-comer Will Shakespeare—meet in the back room of a pub to collaborate on a history play cycle, navigate the perils of art under a totalitarian regime, and flirt like young men with everything to lose. One of them may well be the death of the other.

Genres: Plays, Drama, British Literature

79 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[max theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to disappear. I want to be invisible. I want to write about kings and villains and love and war and life and be as unknowable at the end of it all as I was before I wrote a word. I want to hide in my work like an outlaw in the forest—hunt as you might, you won’t find as much as a potshard left behind.

HEY WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUCK

🎵It's Hard To Say I Do When I Don't--Fall Out Boy🎵

[elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I suppose I thought we could both be kings." -- I can't remember the last time I was so locked in while reading a script, I can't imagine what it would be like to see it actually performed. Hopefully I'll get to find out. People who don't care about Shakespeare are always trying and failing to make Shakespeare sexy and modern and irreverent, and Adams succeeds BY caring, by virtue of taking Marlowe and Shakespeare very seriously, not with worship but with incisive, deliberate recklessness. I need to be in this play really really really bad.

[Ashley Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Cried. Must see it performed.

[Jess Esa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little corny at times, but super fun and sexy, and, unsurprisingly, I've found a new dream role in Marlowe.

[Sara Alanis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ⭐️

“If I can understand God, with my poor understanding, then He cannot be very great. I need Him to be greater than I can know.”

I wasn’t sure if I liked it at first. However, once I caught up with what was happening, I started to REALLY like it. Overall, I think the play is stupidly clever, and knowing some of the history behind the characters surely helps. There’s some quotes in there that really kill me, but I didn’t really love the final monologue. Anyway, I would kill to watch this live.

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You expose yourself with every breath, with every line. To read you is to know you with glittering specificity, I knew you before we’d even met”
___

Flew from Belfast to London to see this on stage and I am not even remotely sorry

[Thérèse · Rating 5 out of 5]

so kind of liz duffy adams to write a play specifically for me. thank you, liz! how did you know i spent my early university years writing about shakespeare/marlowe content?

[•Qezia• · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It is madmen like us who reinvent the world when no one is watching. Will you?”

I’m gnawing on the bars of my cage this was a transcendent experience THE GAGGERY??
The retired history student in me went feral. Shakespeare and Marlowe but queer as fuck but also all about what it means to be making art under threat, under surveillance, and under attack this shit was so delicious I actually feel high. Kit and Will my horrid, poetic, obnoxious, glorious pookie pies.
Rip Kit you would’ve loved the tortured poets department album 💀

The day I stage a gender-bent production of this it’ll be over for everyone I PROMISE.
Would sell my soul, my kidney, and my first born child to see the RSC production of this. Or at least the revised edition pretty please.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to see this live in early September. I went as part of a trio from Uni: Myself (a hopeful early modern scholar), another Shakespeare queer theorist and a previous member of the Marlowe performance company. We had a fantastic time and absolutely loved the show; The script is no exception !

It was great to see the little bits and bobs of recognition in the script, such as Tom’s ‘Spanish Tragedy’, the Fletcher and Beaumont situation etc. I only dock a star as, with any script, it’s better to see it live !

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this play because a friend who’d seen it at the Guthrie recommended it. It’s a clever back and forth between Will Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe as they write a play together. A few threads run underneath: Kit being a spy trying to either recruit or turn over Will, character choices within the play, and the attraction between the writers. A surprising twist at the end and witty lines throughout make the play; you will better enjoy it with some knowledge of history and literature.

[Grace Feidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Loved it. I just want an opportunity to see it live now. I can see why so many theaters are producing it right now. That last line of “the man who wrote Iago knows how to betray a friend” is great and I know will stick with me for a long time. It’s finally convincing me to read Marlowe and I loved how seemingly innocent Shakespeare seemed throughout it. They’re both survivors, but they survive in different ways.

[Foxglove · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this a lot more than I actually did, as the premise sounded incredibly interesting to me, but unfortunately this felt very rushed and sometimes confusing to read due to abrupt changes in pace. I didn’t find it as humorous as others seemed to, though it had its moments. I also didn’t find it very ‘sexy’, for lack of better wording, or tense. Overall, certainly not a bad play but nowhere near as good as I expected.

[Rosie 🌹 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the spicy cover with ncuti gatwa & edward bluemel on it - bet they both absolutely KILL it in their roles so will hopefully try & see it in London before it ends !

I thought this was fun & witty but the moments of direct address were kind of out of place & it never quite reaches any particular heights for me

[tatum · Rating 4 out of 5]

okayyyy this rocked. Have been so curious about this play for awhile, and so glad I finally got to pick it up ((even tho I would’ve loved to see it in London first 💔)). So engaging, even just to read — love a play that feels like a boxing match, but there’s so much more going on than just two characters arguing. REALLY need to see it onstage now!!

[Hans]

"I want to disappear. I want to be invisible. I want to write about kings and villains and love and war and life and be as unknowable at the end of it all as I was before I wrote a word. I want to hide in my work like an outlaw in the forest - hunt as you might, you won't find as much as a potshard left behind."

[Desirae · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 Rating: 4 stars, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, June 2024

Oh, Jesus bless us, he is born with teeth! And so I was, which plainly signified that I should snarl and bite, play the dog.

Adored this. In Awe. Wow.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5. I really enjoyed it, but feel like I couldn’t possibly give this a higher rating without seeing it performed by very good actors. High potential reward.

[DeAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful play. Even better (5 stars) performed! You can see it through fall 2024 at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

[Ess ⭐️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

spectacular give me 14 of them right now

[harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

reread this a year after seeing it live and it’s just as absolutely insane as i remember
i love political tension!! i love banter!!

[Jillian Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still just one of my favorite plays…need to be in London for RSC production 🙂‍↕️

[Olly · Rating 3 out of 5]

!!!!

[Clare Baeckeroot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Academic read. A little … cheesy? Too much facing that audience and explaining what’s going on for my tastes.

[Romeo Channer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Fantastic volleys of language. Sexy, layered, a total page-turner. Could have done without the direct address.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

shakespeare x marlowe in the year of our lord 2025?? i need to see this performed live

[consumptive sphinx · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to this play knowing the one-paragraph summary- that it was about a collaboration between Shakespeare and Marlowe; that they were rivals; that it was queer; that it was a comedy; that it was political- but not the rest of the playbill information, as I hadn't been given a playbill yet. I expected it to be a slashfic-y romantic comedy, maybe with a rivals-to-lovers plot. I expected it to be charming but maybe not substantial?

What I got was a phenomenal black comedy about the Elizabethan surveillance state. About how Marlowe was an atheist and a blasphemer and a dangerous friend, and died young under suspicious circumstances; about how Shakespeare kept his head down, wrote very politically convenient plays, lived to old age, and died in his bed. If you like English history, Shakespearean deep cuts, fast-paced humor, and tragedies, I highly recommend this play.

[Fable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Electric, even not having actually seen this play live. I'm disappointed I missed it during OSF's run of it. In addition to sparking real dialogue still relevant today about the role of artists even if we aren't under totalitarian rule, it is also riddled with historical accuracies that any fan of this time period will recognize.

[Gwyneth Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️2.75. Scene study class read. And quite frankly - eh. I find the narration to the audience to be a little too hammer on the nail. Part 2 was the best part of this. Last line had me rolling my eyes, though. I liked the premise more than the execution.

[Marina Rehm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible! Hope to see it performed one day

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the things I like- historical setting, Elizabethan intrigue, sexy gay innuendo, snappy dialogue. With two charismatic actors this would be a delicious night at theater.