Billy Porter to make UK directorial debut with new play starring Omari Douglas and Alexander Lincoln
Porter has been described as "a creative visionary" by the play's producer Thomas Hopkins
By Gary Grimes
Billy Porter, of Pose fame, will make his UK directorial debut this summer in London.
Porter is set to direct This Bitter Earth by Harrison David Rivers which will run in the Soho Theatre from 18 June through 26 July and will star Omari Douglas and Alexander Lincoln.
This Bitter Earth has been described as “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?'”
It tells the story of an interracial couple who meet at a political demonstration that inspires one of them to dive head first into the world of activism, whilst the other resists.
Douglas is best known for his turn starring opposite Olly Alexander in the Russell T Davies drama It’s A Sin. He has also appeared opposite Billie Piper in I Hate Suzie, and performed in the West End adaptation of the seminal queer novel A Little Life with James Norton.
Lincoln will be recognisable to many from the steamy gay rugby drama In From The Side. He first found fame on Emmerdale, and he also features in the upcoming gay romance A Night Like This which is currently screening at BFI Flare.
“Simple. Complex. Direct and filled with compassion all at once” – Billy Porter on This Bitter Earth
Whilst Porter has not directed theatre in the UK before, he is currently on the West End playing the Emcee in Cabaret, having stepped into the shoes of Eddie Redmayne and Jake Shears who have both played the role in recent times. The Tony and Grammy-winning performer is also set to be headline Manchester Pride this summer.
“Harrison David Rivers has written a searingly poignant and necessary play about love and loss through the lens of the fraying American Democratic experiment,” Porter said. “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.”
The play is being produced by Thomas Hopkins who has described Porter as “a creative visionary”.