Jerker review ★★★★☆ by Ifan Llewelyn
It’s been three decades since Jerker first took to a London stage. After three performances, the 1986 production was cut short and a radio adaptation of the play had the Federal Communications Commissions change its regulations to prevent its broadcasting. Having disyoked ourselves from the deadly prudishness of the 1980s, Robert Chesley‘s pornographic elegy Jerker makes its triumphant return to a British stage at the King’s Head Theatre this November. This tale of two corded landlines is sure to be the filthiest play with a purpose you’ll see this year.
Two bedrooms flank either sides of the stage, each with a bedstand and a porcelain white phone on one side. Feeling a certain kind of way, J.R. decides to give a stranger a call in the hopes he’ll help him to get off. On the other end, handlebar moustached Bert picks up the receiver and is more than happy to indulge in J.R.’s fantasies. They quickly become intimate lovers via the coiled cord, with Bert dubbing J.R. his little brother.
This peek into a sliver of gay life in the San Francisco of the mid-eighties is a delight to behold. From the Y-fronted briefs to the blush velvet headboard, the production feels authentically ’80s steering clear of crimped hair and leg warmers. It’s easy to forget that a shiny white landline was often all gay men had to find each other outside of the downtown leather bars and fetish joints. Before the glittering ring of a Grindr message and “U got any pics?”, a phone conversation had to be enough.
As J.R. and Bert’s clandestine jerking phone sessions become frequent, their relationship develops to be a lot more than graphic descriptions of intense, imagined sexual encounters, though there is a LOT of that. Some of the incestuous sexual fantasies haven’t quite aged well, at its heart this play is timeless. Breaking down social norms and physical barriers, this piece is a real meditation on the insignificant that can become (quite literally) a lifeline. Tibu Fortes‘ portrayal of the sexually dominating yet tender Bert really embodied the role’s potency, while subtly etching the underlying tragedy of gay life in the ’80s. As the fun-loving and allusive J.R., Tom Joyner underpins his sense of adventure with a delicate echo of his time fighting in the Vietnam war.
For a play that mostly develops through speech, director Ben Anderson still succeeds in making the play visually stimulating. Having our distant lovers flank the stage emphasises the paradoxical space and intimacy between them. This production is truly a precious relic of a queer life gone by.
Jerker is running at the King’s Head Theatre, Angel N1 1QN until 23rd November. Tickets at KingsHeadTheatre.com.
Read more related to Jerker review:
Soho Cinders review – ‘one of the gayest things you’ll see this year’
