Billy Porter’s London directorial debut of an Intimate, Gripping and Challenging show is
opening in June.
Harrison David Rivers’ show This Bitter Earth is coming to London in June at the Soho Theatre. The show marks the London directorial debut of theatre royalty Billy Porter. This Bitter Earth will feature Omari Douglas (It’s a Sin – Channel 4) and Alexander Lincoln (Emmerdale).
The show, which was commissioned in 2015, focuses on the relationship between Jesse, a young black writer (Douglas), and his white activist lover Neili (Lincoln). Set over the span of years, the audience sees the relationship between Jesse and Neil develop against a backdrop of political demonstrations and tension beginning at the Million Hoodie March in 2012. The show aims to explore questions and dynamics of race that in the words of director Billy Porter we as a society are too ‘scared, confused or wimpish to ask’. The play is ‘personal, poetic and real’ in the words of Douglas. Lincoln reflected that the process of working on the show has helped him better understand the experience of being black.
Rivers said the play began his life as a ‘visceral’ reaction to the experience of being black in America. He wants the play to explore love, not the feeling, but the action, and its capacity to heal. Audiences can expect to be challenged, and to walk away inspired. In Rivers’ words the play is an encouragement to ‘be in the Here and Now’, to remind people to show up in the present.
At an earlier press conference, the respect for Porter’s direction was palpable. In Rivers’ words Porter is the ‘right director’ for the show for the time. Producer Thomas Hopkins is thrilled to be working with Porter, and celebrates his directorial approach, describing an early conversation with Porter about the show he came away ‘thinking [he’s] never had a conversation like that in [his] life’.
This Bitter Earth promises to be a timely, relevant and engaging show.
Don’t Miss Out: The show is on from the 18th June – 26th July. Tickets start at £13. Book now at https://sohotheatre.com/events/this-bitter-earth/.