Jerker Ortman
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Jerker, or The Helping Hand: A Pornographic Elegy with Redeeming Social Value and a Hymn to the Queer Men of San Francisco in Twenty Telephone Calls, Many of Them Dirty'' (commonly known simply as ''Jerker'') is a 1986 American one-act play by
Robert Chesley Robert Chesley (March 22, 1943, Jersey City, New Jersey – December 5, 1990, San Francisco, California) was a playwright, theater critic and musical composer. Biography Chesley earned his B.A. in music from Reed College in 1965. Between 1965 ...
. The two-character play traces the relationship that develops between a disabled Vietnam veteran, J. R., and a businessman, Bert, two gay men in the beginning years of the
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
epidemic in the early 1980s, when a diagnosis of AIDS meant an early death from complications of the disease. Although they "meet" only through a series of telephone calls, they grow from being
phone sex Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. As a practice between individuals temporarily separated, it is as ...
buddies to caring friends. The play varies from the erotic to emotionally charged moments. "Jerker" can be seen as referring to masturbation and to "tear jerker". Chesley wrote the play because he believed it was "important to remove the stigma against sex that AIDS has created, and ... to remove the stigma against gay men". ''Jerker'' premiered at the
Celebration Theatre The Celebration Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre company in Los Angeles, founded in 1982. The company is located in West Hollywood, on the west end of Theatre Row, and specializes in works representing the LGBTQ+ experience. History Ce ...
on October 24, 1986, under the direction of Michael Kearns and starring David Stebbins and Joe Fraser. The UK Premiere of ''Jerker'' was performed in London at the
Gate Theatre (London) {{Infobox building , name = Gate Theatre , native_name = , native_name_lang = , logo = , logo_size = , logo_alt = , logo_caption = , image = Gate Thea ...
in 1990 under the direction of
Stephen Daldry Stephen David Daldry Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 2 May 1960) is an English director and producer of film, theatre, and television. He has won three Tony Awards for his work on Broadway theatre, Broadway and an Olivie ...
(assisted by Kevin Knight) with Set Design by Ian MacNeil (scenic designer) with Stevan Rimkus (as JR) and Anton Horowitz as Bert. ''Jerker'' has subsequently been considered "one of the most important pieces of gay theater ever created". ''Jerker'' was filmed in 1991, starring Joseph Stachura as J. R. and Tom Wagner as Bert and directed by Hugh Harrison. ''Jerker'' returned to the UK in 2019, running at
The King's Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. The original venue was the oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2024, the pub theatre, and the King's Head Theatre now operates from a purpose- ...
in London. The play was directed by Ben Anderson, with Tom Joyner as J.R. and Tibu Fortes as Bert.


Plot

Two characters, Bert and J.R., exchange a series of sexually explicit telephone calls after connecting through a brief encounter at a bar where they exchange numbers. The highly pornographic content of the first phone calls abate as the men begin to explore other aspects of themselves and each other. In the final scenes J.R. cannot contact Bert because the latter has died from AIDS. J.R. declares his love for his departed friend.


Obscenity controversy

''Jerker'' was at the center of an obscenity controversy shortly after its premiere, when
Pacifica Radio Pacifica may refer to: Art * ''Pacifica'' (statue), a 1938 statue by Ralph Stackpole for the Golden Gate International Exposition Places * Pacifica, California, a city in the United States ** Pacifica Pier, a fishing pier * Pacifica, a conce ...
affiliate
KPFK KPFK (90.7 FM) is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, which serves Southern California. It was the second of five stations in the non-commercial, listener-sponsored Pacifica Radio network. KPFK 90.7 FM be ...
broadcast excerpts from the play on August 31, 1986. Larry Poland, a Christian minister, filed a complaint with the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
the next day. Poland claimed to have tuned into the broadcast accidentally and, upon hearing it, claimed that it "did violence to imand isfamily." He continued, "They potentially took away my control of being able to protect my children from learning about certain sexual practices at certain times in their lives." Chesley responded, "Prudery kills, on the radio or anywhere else.... Nobody ever died from being offended by what they see or hear." The FCC ruled that the broadcast was indecent and possibly obscene. The FCC sanctioned the station and implemented new, more stringent broadcast indecency guidelines.


Notes


References

* Clum, John M. (2000). ''Still Acting Gay: Male Homosexuality in Modern Drama''. Macmillan. . * O'Hara, Scott (1997). ''Autopornography: A Memoir of Life in the Lust Lane''. Haworth Press. . * Witt, Lynn, Sherry Thomas and Eric Marcus (eds.) (1995). ''Out in All Directions: The Almanac of Gay and Lesbian America''. New York, Warner Books. . * Wolf, Michelle Andrea and Alfred P. Kielwasser (1991). ''Gay People, Sex, and the Media'' Haworth Press. {{ISBN, 0-86656-936-7.


External links


Jerker
at the
Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
1986 plays HIV/AIDS in theatre American plays LGBTQ-related plays LGBTQ-related controversies in plays One-act plays Fiction set in the 1980s Plays set in the United States