BILLY PORTER MAKES LONDON DEBUT AS DIRECTOR OF 'THIS BITTER EARTH'

GRAMMY, EMMY AND THREE-TIME TONY AWARD WINNER BILLY PORTER TO MAKE LONDON DEBUT AS DIRECTOR OF THIS BITTER EARTH BY HARRISON DAVID RIVERS AT THE SOHO THEATRE, 18 JUNE – 26 JULY 2025

This Bitter Earth, directed by Billy Porter

This Bitter Earth by Harrison David Rivers is an intimate, romantic and gripping play about a young black writer and his white activist lover that asks, “What is the real cost of standing on the sidelines?”

Now a major new London production, opening at the Soho Theatre from Wednesday 18 June and playing until Saturday 26 July, with a press night on Tuesday 24 June, will mark the UK directorial debut of Grammy Award, Emmy and three-time Tony Award winner, Billy Porter.

This Bitter Earth will star Omari Douglas (C4’s It’s a Sin - BAFTA nomination, Constellations alongside Russell Tovey in the West End - Olivier Award Best Actor nomination and Cliff in original West End cast of Cabaret at the KitKat Club) as ‘Jesse’ and Alexander Lincoln (cult gay rugby movie In From the Side - Best Actor winner & Best Breakthrough Performance nomination, Jamie Tate in over 300 episodes of Emmerdale, Everything I Know About Love, BBC1) as ‘Neil’.

Stanton Plummer-Cambridge (F**king Men, Waterloo East, The Durrells, ITV and Black Earth Rising, BBC) and Luke Striffler (UK tours of Hairspray & Avenue Q, Eastenders, BBC1) are understudies ‘Jesse’ and ‘Neil’.

At the Million Hoodie March in 2012, Jesse, a young black man, encounters Neil, a young white man who has unwittingly found himself at the front of the crowd with a megaphone in his hand. Flash forward several weeks, and Jesse and Neil have begun dating. However, as the months pass and Neil works his way further into the world of activism, Jesse never enters it. Over the years, Jesse and Neil negotiate the complex “firsts” of their relationship against a backdrop of political demonstrations and discord. With history unfolding around them every day, Jesse and Neil must contend with the fact that, no matter their response to social turmoil, they cannot remain untouched by it.

Billy Porter said: “Harrison David Rivers has written a searingly poignant and necessary play about love and loss through the lens of the fraying American Democratic experiment. Simple. Complex. Direct and filled with compassion all at once. I’m thrilled to be a part of bringing this very special piece to life.” 

This Bitter Earth is award-winning producer Thomas Hopkins’ first development project through his independently owned company, Thomas Hopkins Productions. THP will focus on producing work in the same vein as his successful West End revival of Martin Sherman’s Rose, starring Maureen Lipman, and Simon Stephen’s Song From Far Away, staring Will Young, at Hampstead Theatre.

Thomas Hopkins said: “This Bitter Earth marks an important step in my new company’s continued growth, as we begin in making our footprint in the West End. This play not only brings together the exceptional playwright Harrison David Rivers with the creative visionary in Billy Porter as our director. But also, a team of passionate artists at the top of the world’s theatrical landscape, to create a production that, the world needs. This Bitter Earth allows us to learn from each other, grow as individuals and heal as one.’’ 

This Bitter Earth is written by Harrison David Rivers, directed by Billy Porter, with set and costume design by Morgan Large, original composition by Sean Green, sound design by Julian Starr, casting by Rob Kelly, production management by Toby Darvill, with Elsie O’Rourke as Company Stage Manager, Jordan Deegan-Fleet as Deputy Stage Manager.

Produced by

Thomas Hopkins

Jana Robbins, Craig Haffner & Sherry Wright.

Alex Deacon, Jonathan Kaldor & Kohl Beck

in association with John Rogerson ad Sarig Peker.

TICKETS ON SALE FROM 18 MARCH thisbitterearthplay.com

LISTINGS

TITLE: THIS BITTER EARTH

VENUE: SOHO THEATRE, 21 DEAN STREET, LONDON, W1D 3N

DATE: 18 JUNE – 26 JULY

TIME: 7:30PM / 2:30PM

TICKETS: FROM £28

PRESS NIGHT: TUESDAY 24 JUNE (7:30PM)

ABOUT BILLY PORTER

Billy Porter is an award-winning actor, singer, director, producer, composer, and playwright. He won an Emmy Award for Lead Actor for his role in FX’s Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated drama Pose. He earned three Emmy nominations total for his role in the series. In 2024, Porter received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his activism and contributions to the LGBTQ+ community. A Hollywood Walk of Fame inductee, Porter has numerous theatre credits, including the role of ‘Lola’ in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, which he originated in 2013 and for which he won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards, as well as the Grammy for best musical-theatre album. He won his second Tony Award in 2022 for “Best Musical” as a producer on A Strange Loop. Currently, he is starring as the Emcee in the West End revival of the musical Cabaret. Recently, he starred in the film Our Son alongside Luke Evans, the Paramount comedy 80 For Brady alongside Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field, and Prime Video’s Cinderella re-make. His feature directorial debut Anything’s Possible, a coming-of age film written by Ximena García Lecuona, was released in July 2022 on Prime Video. In 2023, he directed an episode of Fox’s anthology series Accused. Upcoming, he will co-write and star in a James Baldwin biopic. In 2022, Porter launched his production company, Incognegro, alongside his producing partner, D.J. Gugenheim. Porter released his first literary project, Unprotected, in October 2021, which was published by Abrams Press. As a recording artist, Porter most recently released his album Black Mona Lisa, under his record deal with Island Records (UK) and Republic Records (US).

ABOUT HARRISON DAVID RIVERS

Harrison David Rivers is an award-winning playwright, librettist and television writer based in St. Paul, Minnesota. His works include LAST OF THE RED HOT MAMAS with Sue and Lloyd Ecker (Bucks County Playhouse), WE SHALL SOMEDAY with Ted Shen (Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Theater Latté Da, Signature Theatre, The Studio Theatre Tierra Del Sol, Transport Group/Public Theatre), WE ARE CONTINUOUS (Diversionary, Uptown Players, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Geva Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival), THE SALVAGERS (Yale Rep), THE BANDAGED PLACE (Roundabout), and thirteen productions of THIS BITTER EARTH, among others. His television credits include ONE OF US IS LYING (Peacock), THE NEVERS (HBO) and WYTCHES (Amazon). Harrison is a recipient of McKnight, Jerome and Van Lier Fellowships and commissions from Roundabout, Transport Group, La Jolla Playhouse and Minnesota Opera. He sits on the Board of Directors of The Movement Theatre Company and Playwrights’ Center. harrisondavidrivers.com