This Bitter Earth

Omari Douglas is a BAFTA and Olivier nominated actor. He most recently starred in Joe Barton’s series for Netflix, Black Doves, alongside Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw.

He is well known for his breakthrough role in Russell T Davies’ Channel 4 / HBO Max smash hit series, It’s A Sin, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Other screen highlights include I Hate Suzie Too for Sky, Nolly for ITV and the Searchlight feature film, Rye Lane.

Theatre work includes: Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew at the Bush Theatre, Ivo Van Hove’s A Little Life, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, opposite Jessie Buckley and Eddie Redmayne, & Constellations at the Vaudeville Theatre opposite Russell Tovey, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor.

Alexander began his career in the much loved role of Jamie Tate in EMMERDALE. He received rave reviews for his performance in the independent feature IN FROM THE SIDE (Netflix) and can be seen in the BBC One series EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE opposite Bel Powley and Emma Appleton. Recent credits include the feature film THE GROOMSMEN with Jonathan Bennett. Other credits include the features INLAND with Mark Rylance and AS I AM opposite Harry Lloyd.

Luke Striffler was born and raised in New York, USA and trained in London at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Professional Credits: Hairspray (UK tour), Avenue Q (UK tour), Edward Brooks in EastEnders, Thom in The Morning After (Short), Noctropia (Hampstead Theatre), Evil Dead: the Musical (Las Vegas), William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Utah Shakespeare Festival), Forever Plaid (St James Theatre, London), Britain’s Got Talent (Semi Finalist S9), Friends! The Musical Parody (Las Vegas & Atlantic City), Bridesmaids: The Unauthorized Movie Musical Parody (The Orleans, Las Vegas) and Angel of Arkansas.

Stanton is an American-British actor. Born and raised in Brooklyn to British Caribbean parents, he moved to London to study at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.

Credits include: Coming Clean (West End), The Twilight Zone (West End), F**king Men (Waterloo East Theatre), Black Earth Rising (BBC/Netflix), The Durrells in Corfu (ITV/PBS Masterpiece), Throuple (Tribeca Creator’s Market/NewFest/Frameline Festival), and Law and Order: Organized Crime (NBC/Universal).

Billy Porter is an award-winning actor, singer, director, producer, composer, and playwright. He won an Emmy Award for Lead Actor for his role in FX’s Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated drama Pose. He earned three Emmy nominations total for his role in the series. In 2024, Porter received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his activism and contributions to the LGBTQ+ community. A Hollywood Walk of Fame inductee, Porter has numerous theatre credits, including the role of ‘Lola’ in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, which he originated in 2013 and for which he won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards, as well as the Grammy for best musical-theatre album. He won his second Tony Award in 2022 for “Best Musical” as a producer on A Strange Loop. Currently, he is starring as the Emcee in the West End revival of the musical Cabaret. Recently, he starred in the film Our Son alongside Luke Evans, the Paramount comedy 80 For Brady alongside Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field, and Prime Video’s Cinderella re-make. His feature directorial debut Anything’s Possible, a coming-of age film written by Ximena García Lecuona, was released in July 2022 on Prime Video. In 2023, he directed an episode of Fox’s anthology series Accused. Upcoming, he will co-write and star in a James Baldwin biopic. In 2022, Porter launched his production company, Incognegro, alongside his producing partner, D.J. Gugenheim. Porter released his first literary project, Unprotected, in October 2021, which was published by Abrams Press. As a recording artist, Porter most recently released his album Black Mona Lisa, under his record deal with Island Records (UK) and Republic Records (US).

Harrison David Rivers is an award-winning playwright, librettist and television writer based in St. Paul, Minnesota. His works include we are continuous (New Conservatory Theatre Center, Geva Theatre Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival), the bandaged place (Roundabout, NYSF), This Bitter Earth (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, White Bear Theatre, Seattle Public, TheatreWorks Hartford, InterAct, The Road, Richmond Triangle Players, Theater Alliance, About Face, Penumbra, NCTC), among others, and the musicals Five Points with Douglas Lyons and Ethan Pakchar, We Shall Someday with Ted Shen and I Put a Spell on You with Nubya Garcia. His television credits include One of Us Is Lying (Peacock), The Nevers (HBO) and Wytches (Amazon). Harrison is a recipient of McKnight, Jerome and Van Lier Fellowships, residencies with the Siena Art Institute, NYTW, Williamstown, Geva and Duke University, and commissions from Roundabout, Transport Group, Penumbra, Geva, La Jolla Playhouse and Minnesota Opera. He sits on the Board of Directors of The Movement Theatre Company and the Playwrights’ Center. MFA: Columbia University. 

Julian studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), was detailed in Australia’s Stage Whispers as one of the ‘Top 4 Sound Designer and Composers in Australia’ and is currently the Associate Sound Designer at the Finborough Theatre.

Recent sound design work includes: Dear Martin (Arcola Theatre); Acid’s Reign (Pleasance Theatre); Miracle on 34th Street (HOME Manchester); The River (Greenwich Theatre); The End (Bush Theatre); Bombay Superstars (UK Tour); 23.5 Hours (Park Theatre); F**king Men (Waterloo East); The Picture of Dorian Gray (Associate to Clemence Williams – Theatre Royal Haymarket); Sharon Osbourne – Cut The Crap! (Fortune Theatre); The White Factory (Marylebone Theatre – Offie Nomination for Best Sound Design); Miss Peony (Australian Tour); Song From Far Away (HOME Manchester, Hampstead Theatre and BBC Radio 4); ZOG (West End and UK tour); Rose (Hope Mill, Park Theatre, Ambassadors Theatre – Offie Nominated for Best Sound Design); Return To The Dirt (Queensland Theatre Company); Animal (Park Theatre and UK Tour);  Sleepwalking (Hampstead Theatre);  Scrounger (Offie Nomination for Best Sound Design); The Dwarfs (White Bear Theatre – Offie Nomination for Best Sound Design) and Aisha (Tristan Bates – Offie Nomination Best Sound Design).

Rob Kelly is a London-based Casting Director known for discovering and championing exceptional talent. With a background in performance, he has helped launch the careers of award-winning actors, including recent BAFTA Rising Stars. Passionate about diversity and authenticity, he actively amplifies working-class voices, LGBTQ+ talent, and underrepresented backgrounds.

TV credits include: Geek Girl (Netflix), Curfew (Paramount+), Phoenix Rise (BBC3), Free Rein (Netflix), Gangsta Granny Strikes Again (BBC), The Drowning (Netflix), Pandora (The CW), Whitstable Pearl (AMC), Dodger (BBC), Hard Cell (Netflix), Flowers in the Attic: The Origin (Paramount+), Bulletproof (Sky), The Royals (Lionsgate), The Athena (Amazon/Sky), Almost Never (BBC), The A List (Netflix), Malory Towers (BBC), Jamie Johnson (BBC), Hank Zipzer (BBC), California Dreaming (Viacom), Will Vs The Future (Amazon), The Midnight Gang (BBC), Creeped Out (Netflix), The Lodge (Disney), and Demon Headmaster (BBC).

Film credits include: Fing! (Sky), How To Date Billy Walsh (Amazon), Libby and Joan, May The Best Mary Win, All That Glitters, Robin and The Hoods (Sky), Something in The Water (StudioCanal), This is Christmas (Sky), Matriarch (Hulu), and Twist (Sky/Epix), Her Pen Pal (Hallmark), Family Pictures (Sony), Very Valentine(Lifetime), Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal (A&E), Bixler High Private Eye (Nickelodeon), Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance (A&E), and Descendants 2 (Disney).

Theatre includes: Rob’s theatre work includes Driving Miss Daisy (York Theatre Royal), Country Music (Omnibus), Passion (Hope Mill), This Bitter Earth (Soho Theatre), Stalled The Musical (King’s Head), and Faygele (Marylebone Theatre).

He is currently developing multiple feature films, TV projects, and stage productions.

West End and London includes: Sister Act (Dominion Theatre/Eventim Apollo/UK Tour/Australia/Netherlands/Germany. Nominated for WhatsOnStage Award for Best Set Design and Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (London Palladium/UK Tour/Australian Tour/Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto. Nominated for Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival); Disney’s Newsies (Troubadour Theatre); The Invention of Love (Hampstead); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Novello Theatre); The Last Tango (Phoenix Theatre/UK Tour); Forbidden Broadway (Vaudeville Theatre/Menier Chocolate Factory); Midnight Tango (Phoenix Theatre/Aldwych Theatre/UK Tours); Dance ’til Dawn (Aldwych Theatre/UK Tour); Ruthless! (Arts Theatre); Flashdance (Shaftesbury Theatre); Sign of the Times (Duchess Theatre); Footloose (Playhouse Theatre/Novello Theatre/UK Tour/South Africa); Sleepless (Set Design, Troubadour Wembley Park); Guys and Dolls (Royal Albert Hall); Violet, The Woman in White, Death Takes a Holiday (Set Design, Charing Cross Theatre); Spamilton (Menier Chocolate Factory/US Tour); The Christmasaurus (Hammersmith Apollo).

Other credits include: Dear Evan Hansen (Nottingham Playhouse/UK Tour); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Crossroads/UK Tour); Frank and Percy (The Other Palace/Theatre Royal Windsor); Alone Together, Filumena (Theatre Royal Windsor); I Think We Are Alone (Frantic Assembly); The Enemy of the People,  Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast (Nottingham Playhouse); Othello, Lives in Art (Sheffield Crucible); Our New Girl (Bush Theatre); The Lady Vanishes,  Rain Man (Bill Kenwright Ltd); Top Hat (Set Design), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Kilworth House); George’s Marvellous Medicine (Leicester Curve/UK Tour); Deathtrap(Salisbury Playhouse/UK Tour); Room on the Broom (Lyric Theatre/Garrick Theatre/World Tour); UK tours of Fatal Attraction, Rock of Ages, Fame!, Love Me Tender, Tango Moderno.

International credits include: Sunset Boulevard (Sydney Opera House/Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore/Opera Australia); Wicked (Santander Theatre, São Paulo); Vallora, Caliente, Fiera, Spotlight Bar (Princess Cruises); Evita (Villa Lobos Park, São Paulo); She Loves You (Tivoli Theatre, Copenhagen/Musikhuset Aarhus); Tell Me on a Sunday (Set Design, Majestic Theatre, Shanghai/RUG); The Life of the Party (TheatreWorks, California/Menier Chocolate Factory).

Awards include: UK Theatre Award for Best Design for Wonderland; Best Of London Theatre Award for Best Set Design for Disney’s Newsies; Best Set Design for   Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Sean has a classical music degree from Birmingham University and completed a postgraduate diploma in Musical Direction from the Mountview School of Theatre Arts in 2009. He is currently Musical Director on MJ the Musical at the Prince Edward Theatre. Musical Supervisor and Arranger credits include The Wiz at Hope Mill Theatre, Aladdin at the Corn Exchange Newbury, Turn Up, a streamed concert from Cadogan Hall in aid of BLM affiliated charities, and the 54 the Musical Workshop. Musical Director Credits include Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) (Kiln Theatre), Brokeback Mountain (Soho Place), Sylvia (Old Vic) Get Up! Stand Up! (Lyric Theatre), Priscilla Queen of the Desert (UK Tour), Leave to Remain (Lyric Hammersmith), Jack and the Beanstalk (White Rock Theatre), Twelfth Night (Young Vic), Liver Birds: Flying Home (Liverpool Royal Court), the Wedding Singer (UK Tour), One Love (Birmingham Rep), Murder Ballad (Arts Theatre), The Buskers Opera (Park Theatre), Into The Woods (Manchester Royal Exchange), Soul Sister at the Hackney Empire which then transferred to The Savoy Theatre and then embarked on a UK Tour, the UK Tour of Britain’s Got Bhangra with Rifco Arts, and Little Red Riding Hood, Five Guys Named Moe and Aladdin all at Stratford East Theatre Royal. Assistant MD credits include the European Tour of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with BB Promotions, and I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky, a joint production between Stratford East and the Barbican. Keyboard credits include Jesus Christ Superstar (Regents Park Open Air Theatre) Wicked (UK and International Tour), Stephen Ward the Musical (Aldwych Theatre), Cabaret (UK Tour), Evita (UK and European Tour), The Phantom of the Opera (UK Tour), Whistle Down the Wind (UK Tour) and Peter Pan with Michael Rose Productions in Dublin and Southampton. As well as concerts and one night events in various venues across London, Sean provided music for West End Bares: Stripped (Troxy) and was Musical Director for West End Bares: Top Off The Pops at the Shaftesbury Theatre which is the first time that a Bares event featured a live band. Other charity events include two Eyebrow 48 Hour Showtime Challenges – Crazy For You and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Workshop Credits include Hot Fuzz the Musical, This Is A Love Story, Sylvia with the Old Vic, Studio 54, The Sorcerers Apprentice with Seabright Productions, Miss Littlewood with the RSC, Leave Hitler To Me Lad with Duck Egg Theatre Company (UK Tour), Laila with Rifco Arts, The Diary of Me with Perfect Pitch, and Fanny Hill at the Jermyn Street theatre. Sean previously held the position of Deputy Head of Music Theatre at the MTA and has taught at Mountview School of Theatre Arts, Guildford School of Acting, Arts Educational London, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Urdang, Tring Park School and the Performance Preparation Academy. Sean also composed the original music for the feature film “Softlad” released by Pecadillo Pictures and has produced and mixed the album “High Time” with his long time collaborator Portia Emare.

Thomas Hopkins Productions (THP) was founded in 2019 by award winning Theatre, Film, Television & Radio producer Thomas Hopkins. THP has produced many live theatrical productions & multiple productions created and filmed specifically for platforms such as Sky, BBC, Amazon Prime, BroadwayHD, Broadway On Demand and educational platform Digital Theatre Plus.

Notable productions include the critically acclaimed production of Simon Stephens A Song From Far Away Staring Will Young at HOME in Manchester and Hampstead Theatre in London and BBC Radio Four and Martin Sherman’s ROSE starring Dame Maureen Lipman in London’s West End at The Ambassadors Theatre for a sell out season and can still be seen on Sky Arts and BroadwayHD.

PREVIOUS PRODUCTIONS INCLUDE:

Glorious (Hope Mill, Manchester); Stalled (The Kings Head Theatre); Sharon Osbourne – ”Cut The Crap’’ (Fortune Theatre & The Alexandra Theatre); Song from Far Away (Home & Hampstead Theatre); Rose (Ambassadors Theatre/Hope Mill Theatre/Park Theatre/Sky Arts/BroadwayHD – OnComm award-winning); Passion (Hope Mill, Manchester); The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me (New Wimbledon – OnComm award-winning); Godspell (BroadwayHD); Scaramouche Jones (Stream.theatre/BroadwayHD); Closer Than Ever (BroadwayHD); Anthology (Actors’Church, Covent Garden); Make Me a Song (New Players’); Mathilde (Edinburgh/Vaudeville); Kurt and Sid (Trafalgar Studios); Smokey Joe’s Café; Closer Than Ever; Tomorrow Morning; By Jeeves (all Landor Theatre); My Trip Down the Pink Carpet (Apollo); The Funny Girls (New Wimbledon Theatre) and as associate producer Private Peaceful (Garrick Theatre/Bristol Old Vic/The Barn Theatre).

GENERAL MANAGER & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER WORK INCLUDES:

White Rose (The Marylebone Theatre) If I Had You A New Musical (The Actors Church), Winghaven Park – A New Musical (The Actors Church) Frank Wildhorn’s – “Your Lie In April” (The Harold Pinter Theatre) Lady Chatterley’s Lover: A New Musical (ShaftesburyStream.Theatre/BroadwayHD); Too Close to the Sun (Comedy); A Tale of Two Cities (filmed at The Theatre Royal Brighton for PBS America) and HMS Pinafore (filmed for BroadwayHD).

THP is passionate about the creation of new theatrical experiences and productions and is currently developing a new version of Boy George’s autobiography musical Taboo opening in New York 2027. THP is also developing a West End production of Harrison David Rivers Play This Bitter Earth to be directed by Grammy Award, Emmy and 2x Tony winning actor, singer, director, composer, and playwright Billy Porter opening in June 2025. 

Thomas Hopkins is a proud member of both The League of independent Producers, The Society Of London Theatre and is a voting member of the Olivier Awards. THP is a proud supporter of the charity Just Add Milk committed to enhancing accessibility within the industry through workshops, new plays, educational programs, and the Luke Westlake scholarship.

THP

Founder: Thomas Hopkins

General Manager : Giles Rowland

Operations Manager: Dana Heres Diddens  

Production Assistant: Will Fieldhouse

PA & Office Assistant: Emma Leaver

Marketing Consultant: Tessa Daniel

Accounts: Clare Pope 

Legal: So Legal

JANA ROBBINS is a Tony, Olivier, and Drama Desk Award winning producer whose Broadway producing credits include LITTLE WOMEN, the revival of RAGTIME, and COMPANY (Tony Award), as well as holding a financial stake in both WAR HORSE and SOMETHING ROTTEN. Jana was also lead producer of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF in Yiddish directed by Joel Grey, which won The Drama Desk, Outer Critic’s Circle, and Off-Broadway Alliance Award for “Best Revival of a Musical“

UK producing credits include, THE JAZZ AGE, THE ASTONISHING TIMES OF TIMOTHY CRATCHIT at The Hope Mill Theater, and COMPANY in the West End (Oliver Award). As part of Pinnacle Productions, she has produced ROSE starring Maureen Lipman at The Ambassadors Theater, DEATH NOTE in concert at the London Palladium, YOUR LIE IN APRIL at The Harold Pinter Theater and a Broadway revival to be announced soon.

Jana has appeared in leading roles on Broadway in GOOD NEWS, I LOVE MY WIFE, CRIMES OF THE HEART, ROMANCE-ROMANCE; was standby for Tyne Daly as Mama Rose in GYPSY, and covered both Linda Lavin and Michele Lee in THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE. Jana is a proud recipient of The Jewish National Fund’s “Tree Of Life Award.”