This Bitter Earth 

Soho Theatre, London

If you’re in London this month, then a must-see is This Bitter Earth, Billy Porter’s (Pose, Kinky Boots) directorial debut of Harrison David River’s tense play about a mixed-race queer American couple navigating life during the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement.

At Soho’s cute cabaret/theatre space, The Soho Theatre, we meet Neil (the very handsome Alexander Lincoln (Emmerdale, In from the Side)) and cute Jesse Omari Douglas (It’s a Sin)). They met at 2012’s Million Hoodie March and began a fun, romantic relationship. Jesse is a writer, having graduated on a scholarship from Columbia University. Neil comes from a wealthy family and dedicates his time to unpaid political activism, focusing on racial inequality. The two get on well despite the fact that they come from very different financial and family backgrounds. Jesse is not interested in racial equality activism, which Neil, who is white, finds hard to understand, given that Jesse is black. We follow the couple over a three-year-period, across several scenes, innovatively not presented in chronological order, as they unpredictably navigate all the ups and downs of a typical gay male romantic relationship.

There are many things that are spot-on about This Bitter Earth. Firstly, Lincoln and Douglas give faultless character performances – Lincoln as the sexy, passionate activist, embarrassed about his wealth but relaxed enough about it to not to earn money, and Douglas as the more cautious, less confident, poorer playwright. Some may attribute their character differences to their racial differences, and maybe American audiences will be more likely to consider this, given America’s racial history. However, as a queer mixed-race person myself, having been both wealthy and poor, I feel Jesse’s caution and lower confidence and self-esteem are more likely due to his financial background. Maybe that’s my UK perspective, as mixed-race relationships are generally of no consequence here. That’s not to negate the trials of living as a queer black person and Douglas gives an illuminating perspective of this. Douglas’s portrayal of Jesse’s reluctance to engage in activism to fight his own corner is also very astute. As any minority will tell you, activism for your own cause can be stressful and often it’s much easier to duck out and live a quiet life, even with impaired human rights. That’s why, for example, we don’t currently see more trans activists, even as they come under assault from all directions. That’s also why we often need more privileged allies to fight our corner. Billy Porter’s sharp, well-timed direction also delivers, and complements the compelling script, great choreography and a lively soundtrack. The fractured timeline of the storytelling is an overall positive experience but was at times a little confusing. The brutality of the long-term crimes against America’s black population features throughout the play, a heavy-duty reminder about the continued importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. Activism doesn’t feature on stages very often, and was handled very well here. Here’s to more of it. The hearts and souls of a lot of people have poured into this production and it shows. Highly recommended queer storytelling that anyone can relate to.