There are a lot of messages thrown at the audience in the new play This Bitter Earth now at the Soho Theatre until July 25th.
Making his directorial debut, Billie Porter, who’s been known to be very outspoken, also uses this play to subtly (or not) feed us his views on race and politics in America past and present.
The story is told through interracial gay couple Jesse (Omari Douglas) and Neil (Alexander Lincoln). They meet and right away Neil, who is from a very privileged background, is immediately smitten with Jesse. This is all set against the backdrop of the 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri, who was shot to death by police and started race riots all over America. It’s also during the time when Donald Trump started his campaign to become U.S. President in 2016, and of course there’s quite a poke at him at one point in the show. This Bitter Earth also goes very heavy on the issue of gay bashing.
Jesse and Neil enjoy their lives moving back and forth from various cities (which is bit confusing) but as the show winds down it feels a bit rushed and unrealistic (This Bitter Earth is 90 minutes long). While the acting is in top form (Lincoln is a natural and very charming), the direction is all over the place and loses the message that it so desperately wants to send. Porter is a real life character and star and it’s best he stays front and center and not as a director.
Photo by Harrison David Rivers