Billy Porter announces directorial debut with play starring It’s A Sin’s Omari Douglas

Pose and Cabaret star Billy Porter is set to make his directorial debut this summer, helming Harrison David Rivers’ play This Bitter Earth at London’s premiere queer performance venue, Soho Theatre.

It’s A Sin star Omari Douglas, most recently seen on stage in queer family drama Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew and the contentious stage adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life, will lead the production as playwright Jessie.

Tensions simmer between Jessie and his white, Black Lives Matter activist boyfriend Neil when the latter confronts Jessie about his “political apathy”.

The pair meet at a political demonstration, and while Neil decides to enter the world of equality activism, Jessie is reticent. 

Neil will be played by famed Emmerdale and In From The Side star Alexander Lincoln. The actor is currently appearing alongside Wolfblood’s Jack Brett Anderson in queer romance film A Night Like This, which is playing at BFI Flare, London’s LGBTQ+ film festival.

“As passions and priorities collide, this couple is forced to reckon with issues of race, class and the bravery it takes to love out loud,” reads an official synopsis of This Bitter Earth.

It’s also 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?'”

The production will play at the Soho Theatre in Dean Street between 18 June and 26 July 2025.

In a statement, Porter described Harrison David Rivers as a “creative visionary”.

“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.”

While This Better Earth marks Porter’s first time directing a production, the actor is no stranger to the stage. His career began with a role in the ensemble of the 1991 Broadway production of Miss Saigon, and he has since become a staple of the theatre world.

In 2013, he won the Best Leading Actor in a Musical Tony Award for his role as drag queen Lola in Kinky Boots. His second Tony Award came in 2022, when musical A Strange Loop – which he produced – won Best Musical.

Billy Porter, who is currently starring as Emcee in the West End Cabaret revival, is one award away from EGOT status, having earned an Emmy (for Pose), and a Grammy and Tony for Kinky Boots.

Speaking to PinkNews last year about that much-needed Oscar, Porter said: “Who doesn’t want to win an award? I’m not one of those people who’s like, ‘Oh, wow, I don’t care.’ Yeah! I care!

“Particularly for a Black, queer man, unlike some of my white, straight counterparts, it actually does matter when I win an award. Doors that are bolted shut actually do open, it does change the landscape,” he added.

Tickets for This Bitter Earth are available now.

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