Overview

• New reviews praise Ncuti Gatwa’s charismatic turn as Christopher Marlowe opposite Edward Bluemel’s more diffident Shakespeare.
• Liz Duffy Adams’s play centers on an imagined collaboration on Henry VI that unfolds as a rivalry charged with flirtation.
• Critics describe a darker Tudor landscape of surveillance, sex, and political intrigue, with Marlowe linked to Elizabethan spy circles.
• Several notices fault Daniel Evans’s production for uneven pacing and tonal undercutting, as well as sparse design and aggressive lighting.
• The Royal Shakespeare Company production runs at Wyndham’s Theatre through 1 November, with tickets available via commercial vendors.