Overview
“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.”
—Henry VI, Part 3, Shakespeare & Marlowe
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 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.
Casting & Production
Casting
WILL
KIT
Casting Note:
Iconoclastic, punk-edged; aggressive pacing. Historically they were 27–29 at the time. But age and appearance doesn’t much matter as long as they are wildly charismatic and roughly the same age. Any genders are welcome as long as they are both the same gender, and pronouns remain he/him.
Setting
Part 1: Winter 1591
Part 2: Summer 1592
Part 3: May 1593
A private room in a London tavern, with a long wooden table and stools
Reviews
“Adams writes not with a pen so much as a razor blade. The play cuts to the bone as Kit and Will trade barbs, ambitions, and ultimately places in a history play that rewrites our understanding of these two figures.”
—Star-Tribune
“Overflowing with wit and deftly exploring matters of the heart, mind and spirit… BORN WITH TEETH crackles with tension, yet is often uproariously funny.”
—Pioneer Press
“If you, dear playgoer, desire time travel with a vengeance, then take my hand and merrily traipse with playwright Liz Duffy Adams back to Elizabethan England via quick-witted punk sensibility in her delicious fantasia BORN WITH TEETH.”
—Houston Press
