THEATER REVIEW : ‘Jerker’ Has Energy and Intimacy, But Not Enough

Two men lie in identical beds perpendicular to each other, covered by identical checkerboard blankets from the waist down, one hand on their bodies and the other clutching identical red phones.

For all the intimacy inherent in the staging of Robert Chesley’s “Jerker,” which ends tonight at Sushi Performance Gallery, this story about two gay men who fall in lust and, later, in love over the phone is more than anything an elegy to the days of promiscuous pre-AIDS sex gone by.

Therein lie its strength and weakness.

In the men’s remembrance of those days, in which they describe the love they felt for as many as 100 faceless lovers in one night, they make a stab at trying to explain why such orgies not only existed but were sought by so many.

But in the play’s insistence on defending the love inherent in anonymous sex, we get only enough information about the men to titillate. When Bert (David Stebbins) asks his caller (Michael Kearns) about himself, all he can get is two initials--J.R.--and, ultimately, the information that J.R. is a Vietnam veteran. The audience gets to see only a bit more--that J.R. has crutches by his bed.

The result is that when Bert gets sick, and J.R. worries, we care, but not as much as if we knew more about them.

It is easy to see why this show caused such a furor with the Federal Communications Commission when it was broadcast on radio last year. The series of vignettes, in which the two turn each other on, are verbally explicit. On stage, they are graphic as well. The actors are nude and, while the sexual activity is suggested under the blankets, there is little left to the imagination.

Still, the scenes, punctuated by blackouts, are not gratuitous. They instruct by telling a story that has the stamp of reality all over it. If only the story had more personal details sketched in.

The limitations of these character portrayals also put the actors at a disadvantage, making it necessary for them to convey a great deal more than is written. Under Kelly Hill’s direction, Kearns and Stebbins bring energy to their roles, but neither quite brings his character to life. Kearns comes closer, at times giving hints of a Promethean struggle to break through the limitations of what the script does not allow him to say.

“Jerker” is a play that seems on its way to working, like a figure suggested but not completely released from the marble. The moments of intimacy when J.R. and Bert opt for quiet talk are touching; the best and most subtle among these is near the end, when J.R., the caller in the relationship, actually goes so far as to give Bert his number. If that moment had led to more self-revelation by J.R., the show would have been infinitely more affecting.

“JERKER”

By Robert Chesley. Director is Kelly Hill. Set by Wayne Paulus. Stage manager is Ed Santiago. With Michael Kearns and David Stebbins. At 8 and 10 tonight at Sushi Performance Gallery, 800 8th Ave., San Diego.