Just entertainment
The play's the thing:
An interview with Robert Chesley
‘
This is a time , fo r heaven s sake, when the nation needs to
talk frankly and bluntly about sex. I find myself at odds with the
premise that children should know nothing about sex ' '
— Robert Chesley
BY
H O W I b _B_A ( i (. A DON U T Z
y the time you read this Robert
Chesley’s play Jerker will have
ended its successful run in Portland.
However, don't think you've heard the last
of Jerker. The play, about two men’s
phone-sex relationship in the era of AIDS,
is currently at the center of what w ill ulti
mately be a landmark decision that will
affect what we hear on our radios for years
to come.
In April the FCC went after L A. radio
station KPFK for alleged obscenity viola
tions because it aired sexually explicit seg
ments from an I A. production of Jerker.
The case has been referred to the Justice
Department and a verdict won’t be reached
for months. Yet, a wave of fear has over
taken the radio industry, in particular,
smaller, poorer communty stations like
Portland’s KB(X), which could theoreti
cally go broke defending themselves
against Big Brother. Yes. all this fuss be
cause of a modest gay play that, ironically,
many people now know about but have
never seen — to date there ve been only
three productions of Jerker
1 recently spoke with playwright Robert
Chesley about Jerker, AIDS, obscenity,
the FCC and gay theatre What he says
may shock or enrage some of the lesbian/
gay community So be it
HB: Why did you write Jerker?
R C :I m concerned about wnting for the
gay male community and what we re go
ing through. Jerker is one of eight scripts
I’ve wntten that have to do with the health
crisis as their background. It’s an expres
sion of the tragedy our community is fac
ing and also I hope is an affirmative play; I .
hope it affirms gay males as a people.
HB: What’s your reaction to the FCC
harassment of KPFK in Los Angeles for
airing portions of Jerker1?
RC: I think it's really horrifying. This is
repression by the FCC of serious sexuai
discussion. This is a time, for heaven’s
sake, when the nation needs to talk frankly
and bluntly about sex. Already it’s had a
chilling effect on stations across our
country just when we should be finally
getting over the American hypocrisy about
sex and start being honest about sexual
matters, which is happening by and large.
The country is facing up to a lot of issues
that no one wanted to admit before, like
the fact that a lot of children do have sex
and are going to continue to have sex, so
we know that the "just say no to sex"
attitude is going to be lethal. The country's
also facing up to the fact that clergy have
sex. Roman Catholic priests are getting
AIDS and not from sharing needles — and
they're not all Haitian.
HB: What about people who say that this
stuff is obscene and children can hear it?
RC: 1 find myself very much at odds with
the basic premise that children should
know nothing about sex. which is based on
another lie that children are not sexual. I
think that 's extremely damaging and is
another example of the fact that prudery is
lethal. It parents don’t want their children
to hear frank sexuai discussion on the radio
they can turn off the radio or control their
children I think they’re dead wrong and
they'll probably have dead kids if they do
it, but 1 guess that is still their right, seeing
that children are still subjects of tyranny
from adults.
HB: What do you think of other gay plays
Best Men
Cannon
T o *"1'
i 10*6
that deal with AIDS?
RC: I think they’re all important — we’re
dealing with a great unknown that’s going
to make a big change in everyone’s lives,
not just the lives of gay people. I think
each play cuts out its own territory. Harvey
Fierstein, by the way, is pro-sexual and I
agree with him Safe Sex is a wonderful
play that had an unfortunate [Broadway]
production.
I think The Normal Heart was important
politically for jarring people into aware-
ness. At the same time it also had a power
ful anti-sexual message underlying it.
I hope Jerker and my other plays come
from an express gay pride which I think is
very important, very healthy and will save
lives. We should be proud of who we are as
a people and not feel ashamed of our sex
ual lore and knowledge
Jerkers has been held over through
July !6.
Left to right— John Mifsud, Barb Scamman, Lita Spratt, Frank Joachimsthaler, J. Stegar
Thompson and Jeannie Grassi.
Intimate Friends
to come to Portland
ntimate Friends. the musical revue of
the gay/lesbian lifestyle, will be
coming to Portland in September after
ending a sold-out extended run in Seattle.
The fast-paced, tasteful and sophisticated
show features a cast of three men and three
women who perform a wide range of
characters throughout the show.
Billed as " a musical celebration of the
gay and lesbian lifestyle, a joyous experi
ence for everyone," Intimate Friends is
the work of composer lyncist Miriam
Moses, a former New Yorker, now based
in Seattle.
Intimate Friends is for everyone. Moses
says, " I wanted this to be something that,
if you were gay, you could bring your
family to see and it would provide them
with a much better explanation of who you
are. This is how it feels — and it feels
wonderful.”
Performances in Portland are scheduled
for the last two weekends in September in
the new Performing Arts Center.