If you need a solid reason to hit the theatre this Pride Month, This Bitter Earth is it. Not just because it marks the UK directorial debut of Pose legend Billy Porter (though honestly, that’s reason enough), but because it’s a whip-smart, emotionally resonant two-hander that’ll have you laughing one moment and thinking hard the next.

Yes, Porter’s name brings the dazzle, but it’s far from a one-man show. The play stars Omari Douglas (It’s A Sin, Constellations) and Alexander Lincoln (In From The Side, A Night Like This)—two of the most exciting queer talents on the scene right now. And their chemistry? Off the charts. Think tenderness, spark, and the kind of connection that fills the whole of Soho Theatre’s space with heat.

The story, written by Harrison David Rivers, zeroes in on Jesse and Neil—an interracial queer couple grappling with different views on activism. Neil, a white protest-loving BLM ally, is always in the streets. Jesse, a Black playwright, is more conflicted. What could easily have been a heavy, issue-laden play is instead handled with surprising levity and grace. Porter leans into the humour and intimacy, keeping things light without ever losing depth. There’s queer joy here—lots of it. Kissing, bantering, chasing each other around the stage like teenage lovers. It’s playful, it’s warm, it’s real.

Sure, some of the direction is a bit extra (a moment where they climb into the audience feels more “why not?” than “why”), and the timeline-jumping structure can get a little muddled. Sometimes you’re not quite sure where you are in their relationship, or whether the central conflict fully earns the emotional punch it’s aiming for. But honestly? That barely dents the experience.

The final scenes tilt more into Jesse’s inner world, and while some choices (like the heavy-handed video projections) slightly pull focus, there’s no denying the production’s passion or power. This is a show that dares to ask big questions—about race, love, queerness, and the limits of allyship—and does so with style.

This Bitter Earth is a thoughtful, funny, and fiery reminder that queer stories are never one-note. It’s bold. It’s messy. It’s necessary.

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.