Marlowe and Shakespeare clash wits and styles in engaging ‘Born with Teeth’ at Asolo Rep

Even though they don’t brandish swords during Liz Duffy Adams’ “Born With Teeth” at Asolo Repertory Theatre, you might feel like you’re watching a duel with many twists and turns between Matthew Amendt and Dylan Godwin.

Amendt plays Christopher Marlowe (or Kit) and Godwin plays William Shakespeare, who have been brought together to create a new play that becomes successful enough to lead to two sequels. Unless you recognize any subtly mentioned plot points or characters (or read the program notes), it’s not clear they are writing “Henry VI” parts one through three, which had long been credited to Shakespeare alone and one of his early efforts. (You don’t need to know anything about the plays, or realize what they are writing, to follow along.)

Adams has said she was inspired to write “Born With Teeth” after reading that scholars had proven through computer analysis and more research the two writers created the cycle together. The play comes to Sarasota from Houston’s Alley Theatre, where it had its premiere in 2022, under the direction of its artistic director Rob Melrose. The two actors also performed the play last year at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and are reunited at Asolo Rep.

With all those performances behind them, it is no wonder Amendt and Godwin are so keenly attuned to one another. Will and Kit navigate their personality clashes and some unspoken truths that somehow still allow them the creative freedom to write a play.

They are vastly different people. Godwin’s Will is shy and introverted, a bit repressed and desperate for income to support his growing family back home in Stratford. He is also clearly wary of Amendt’s far more flamboyant Kit, who sashays around like a proud peacock. Marlowe is, after all, the leading playwright/poet of the time, and Will is aware of the rumors that Kit works as a spy for Queen Elizabeth’s government and is protected by one of her aides.

They are living in what is described as a corrupt police state, where everyone has to watch his back. Though Will respects Kit, he never knows if his colleague may turn him in for any comment he might make about religion (being Catholic could get you killed or jailed), expressing any views against the crown, or just about anything else that runs counter to the queen’s wishes.

It is with this background that these two men meet in a tavern with a long wood table and a backdrop of cracking stone walls designed by Michael Locher. That table and the wide open spaces give the two actors a big playground in which they lunge and retreat, parry and repeat, with words and physical actions. You feel a constant sense of danger between them, occasionally heightened by Carolina Ortiz Herrara’s lighting. You also feel the heat and the chills of changing seasons in the late 16th century in Alejo Vietti’s costumes.

And there’s no denying the nervous and sensual flirtation and attraction between the two men. Kit encourages while Will hesitates. Is he afraid of of enjoying himself or potential arrest? Or both?

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The scholarly study gives Adams plenty to work with. We will never know the full nature of the men’s relationship, and given what’s happening politically in the state, with anti LGTBQ+ laws and negative attitudes growing, you might look at “Born With Teeth” as a bold theatrical and political choice for Asolo Rep.

But this is not a play about a physical relationship. It is about two genius writers finding a path to working together, navigating treachery and deceit and trying to hold onto a sense of having an upper hand in dangerous times. The laughter or drama may not always be as strong as I expected or hoped, but the actors and story kept me engaged for the play’s 90 minutes that lead to a surprising finale.

‘Born With Teeth’

By Liz Duffy Adams. Directed by Rob Melrose. An Alley Theatre production at Asolo Repertory Theatre. Reviewed Feb. 9. Through March 29. FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are $29-$95. 941-351-8000; asolorep.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Playwrights clash with some bite in ‘Born With Teeth’ at Asolo Rep