Ncuti Gatwa says Shakespeare was ‘unapologetically queer’ and Marlowe was a ‘bad bitch’

Ncuti Gatwa has celebrated how William Shakespeare and his contemporary, Christopher Marlowe, were “unapologetically queer.”

The Doctor Who star is currently treading the boards on London’s West End in the play Born With Teeth. In it he stars as Christopher Marlow, the writer of Doctor Faustus, alongside Edward Bluebell as Shakespeare.

The play by Liz Duffy Adams centres on the relationship between the two playwrights in a series of imagined meetings while writing Shakespeare’s Henry VI.

Chatting to Vogue about taking on the role of Marlowe, Gatwa described the man as “a bad bitch,” claiming, “if Christopher Marlowe were alive today, he would’ve painted the town red.” Whether that’s true or not, the play certainly takes liberties with its storytelling seeing the two writers engage in lusty exchanges.

On this Gatwa says, “The rivalry they feel towards one another and the admiration they feel and how that affects their artistry – it was a juicy subject matter to get into.” He described how and Bluemel “were very keen to just make it as hot as possible.”

And in his preparation for the play Gatwa studied Elizabethan history, particularly the works of Will Tosh, the interim Director of Education (Higher Education and Research) at Shakespeare’s Globe.

What Gatwa found was “how unapologetically queer Kit Marlowe was and indeed Shakespeare.” He told Vogue, “I found out that the pair of them would write into their work same-sex pronouns. They wouldn’t hide their queerness.”

This inspired Gatwa to take on the role. “I thought, I have to play this role. I was taken by this notion there was an iconic queer artist of the Elizabethan era whose work and legacy have been hidden a bit, and it’d be cool to engage with that. Not resurrect it, but give it a new life.”

Gatwa addressed his decision to step down from Doctor Who in July. The actor made two seasons of the popular BBC series before leaving, some think prematurely.

The actor told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg it was due to “getting old.” He said, “My body was tired. And I’ve now just started doing some ballet, so I’m making really great decisions.” But he maintained Doctor Who is “the most amazing job in the world, a job that any actor would dream of,” adding that because of that it was “strenuous.”

Born with Teeth is playing at Wyndham’s Theatre until 1 November 2025. Doctor Who is streaming on the BBC iPlayer and Disney+ now.

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