Jerker (or the Helping Hand)

by Robert Chesley


Adam Silver (Photo: Henry Mills) 
Ms Sharon Le Grand (Photo: Henry Mills)
Syrus Lowe (Photo: Henry Mills)
Adam Silver (Photo: Henry Mills) 
Adam Silver and Syrus Lowe (Photo: Henry Mills)
Ms Sharon Le Grand (Photo: Henry Mills) 
Adam Silver (Photo: Henry Mills)
Syrus Lowe (Photo: Henry Mills) 

8-9th March 2024
London Performance Studios

“Enough of this nicey-nice-lovey-dovey stuff: I’m gonna make you eat ass and suck my balls and drink my piss like you never have before, you get me?”



Posters by Tom Joyes


JR and Bert are San Francisco faggots. They don’t know each other’s names, what they look like, or where they live. They do know how to turn each other on. 

Their friendship begins with a dirty phone call. But, over the many nights that follow, as their lovers fall sick and die, the men come to share their hopes and fears about an increasingly uncertain and frightening future. 

Robert Chesley was a San Franciscan playwright and gay rights activist who used his theatre to celebrate sexual liberation and dramatise the toll of HIV/AIDS on the queer community. ‘Jerker, or the Helping Hand’, written in 1986, is his masterpiece.  



Robert Chesley (1943-1990)


Video by Lylani Devorah
To find out more about Robert Chesley and his gay activism, visit his author page.



Behind-the-Scenes

Step into the studio with costume and set designers Max Allen and Elliott Adcock as they piece together the world of ‘Jerker’.

Photos by Max Allen


Listen to the Show

April 2024 - Our production of ‘Jerker’ was captured live and broadcast on Montez Press Radio. Relive the show in their archive, with an introduction by Alastair Curtis.





Cast


Adam Silver
Ms Sharon Le Grand
Syrus Lowe




Director
Alastair Curtis 

Costume and Set
Max Allen & Elliott Adcock 

Sound 
Helen Noir 

Lighting 
Byron Ladd-Carr

Producers
Izzy Parriss 
Katie Byrne and Max Laurie 

Stage Manager
Cara Dromgoole 

Photography
Henry Mills

Commissioned by
London Performance Studios 

Thanks to
Victor Bumbalo and Mark I Chester