BORN WITH TEETH

A play by Liz Duffy Adams

TRAGICOMEDY

SYNOPSIS: 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.

Production Notes

Characters: Will 27–29, Kit 27–29

Note on style: Iconoclastic, punk-edged; aggressive pacing.

Time & Place

Part 1: Winter 1591

Part 2: Summer 1592

Part 3: May 1593

A private back room in a London tavern. The main thing is a long wooden table that they write at, lie on, fight on; it’s their stage, their game board, their field of battle.

“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

Author

Liz Duffy Adams

Liz Duffy Adams’ play Born With Teeth, recipient of a 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, had its world premiere at the Alley Theater in 2022. Her Or, premiered Off Broadway at WP Theater and has been produced some 80 times since, including at the Magic Theater, Seattle Rep, and Roundhouse Theatre. Her work has also premiered or been developed at Contemporary American Theater Festival, Humana Festival, Bay Area Theater Festival, Portland Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Greater Boston Theater Company, New Georges, Clubbed Thumb, Crowded Fire, Shotgun Players, and Cutting Ball, and includes Dog Act; The Salonnières; Dear Alien; A Discourse on Wonders of the...[FULL BIO]