Tony and Emmy winner Billy Porter, who is currently starring in the London revival of Cabaret, will make his U.K. directorial debut this summer.

Porter, a Tony winner for his performance as Lola in Kinky Boots, will direct Harrison David Rivers' This Bitter Earth at the Soho Theatre. Previews will begin June 18 prior to an official opening June 24 for a limited engagement through July 26.

The cast will feature Olivier nominee Omari Douglas (Cabaret, It’s a Sin, Constellations) as Jesse and Alexander Lincoln (In From the Side, Emmerdale, Everything I Know About Love) as Neil. Understudies Stanton Plummer-Cambridge and Luke Striffler complete the company.

The new play, which follows young Black writer Jesse and his white activist lover Neil, asks, “What is the real cost of standing on the sidelines?”

In a statement 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.”

Porter, who directed a reading of This Bitter Earth in November 2024, also won a Tony as a co-producer of A Strange Loop and is the recipient of the 2024 Isabelle Stevenson Award. He won the 2019 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for playing Pray Tell on Pose.

The upcoming production will also have set and costume design by Morgan Large, original composition by Sean Green, sound design by Julian Starr, casting by Rob Kelly, and production management by Toby Darvill.

Elsie O’Rourke is the company stage manager, and Jordan Deegan-Fleet is the deputy stage manager.

Thomas Hopkins produces with Jana Robbins, Craig Haffner and Sherry Wright, Alex Deacon, Jonathan Kaldor and Kohl Beck in association with John Rogerson and Sarig Peker.

Visit ThisBitterEarthPlay.com.