I’m currently one half of the two-person play “Born With Teeth” at Aurora Theatre Company in California. I’m playing Kit Marlowe opposite the great Brady Morales-Woolery as Shakespeare. We are the second production ever of this glorious play (following its world premiere at the Alley and Guthrie), and it’s been an absolute privilege to work with director Josh Costello and playwright Liz Duffy Adams. We run September 1st – October 1st. Tickets for both in person and virtual streamed performances can be found here.
Here’s what the critics had to say about my performance:
”Dean Linnard is magnetic as Marlowe, volatile, overbearing, bawdy, self-aggrandizing, seductive and combative. He’s also feverish, rocket-fueled with nervous energy … Shakespeare and Marlowe are irresistible. Every moment between the two is electrically charged, whether with danger, sexual tension or just writers lingering lovingly on language. It’s a wonderfully funny, sexy and suspenseful play that’s thrilling from beginning to end.” Sam Hurwitt, The Mercury News
“Aurora’s two actors effortlessly wring every morsel of comedy and inner angst from the tightly woven script … Dean Linnard as the already-famous Kit stalks his prey, taking full possession of the room.” Jean Schiffman, Local News Matters
“Kit, played with a delicious venom by Linnard, is very much the aggressor in this dyad … Both actors give gripping, energetic, thrilling performances. They use the stage almost like a boxing ring, circling each other, stalking each other, testing the other’s limits over and over again.” Patrick Thomas, Talkin’ Broadway
“The two actors are magnetic … Linnard, as Marlowe, churns out torrents of feelings, switching personalities like a schizophrenic on speed … “Born With Teeth” rekindles our passion for theater and poetry.” Patricia L. Morin, Theatrius
“If you’ve seen Dean Linnard perform at Cal Shakes, San Francisco Playhouse or elsewhere, you can probably still picture his wildly eloquent eyes. They flicker, flash and blaze. Whatever they’re conveying on the surface, there’s always something more roiling underneath … In “Born With Teeth,” … Linnard has a show that gives full expression to his artistic prowess. As the imperious and mercurial Kit Marlowe, Linnard whirls like a dervish, lets whole weather systems pass across his face and swaggers like a rock star … In one pregnant pause, when Kit assesses whether Will’s worth more to him as collaborator or hunted bounty, it’s almost as if silently, without moving a muscle, Linnard morphs from bad-boy writer to inquisitor, torturer and executioner, then back again … When Linnard delivers actual “Henry VI” lines, he’s like a sorcerer who’s at last gotten his magic staff.” Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
