Robert Chesley
Encyclopedia
Robert Chesley was a playwright, theater critic and musical composer.
Between 1965-75 Chesley composed the music to over five dozen songs and choral works, chiefly to texts by poets such as Emily Dickinson
, Willa Cather
, James Agee
, Walter de la Mare
, Gertrude Stein
and Walt Whitman
. His instrumental works include the score to a 1972 film by Erich Kollmar.
In 1976 he moved to San Francisco and became theater critic at the San Francisco Bay Guardian
, during its golden period when composer-actor Robert DiMatteo was also on the staff as film critic. In 1980 Theatre Rhinoceros
produced Chesley's first one-act, Hell, I Love You; in 1984 his Night Sweat became one of the first produced full-length plays to deal with AIDS.
On August 31, 1986, his two-character play, Jerker, aired on the Pacifica Radio
station KPFK
's IMRU Program. Its frank sexual language immediately stirred controversy; later that year the FCC rewrote its rules governing the broadcast of "questionable" works, citing Jerker as the test case.
He was also co-founder of the Three-Dollar Bill Theater in New York City.
In total, Chesley wrote 10 full-length and 21 one-act plays. Several works were premiered posthumously and all of his major plays have been published.
Chesley died of AIDS in San Francisco at the age of 47. The Robert Chesley Award for Lesbian and Gay Playwriting, given annually by Publishing Triangle, is named in his honor.
Between 1965-75 Chesley composed the music to over five dozen songs and choral works, chiefly to texts by poets such as Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
, Willa Cather
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
, James Agee
James Agee
James Rufus Agee was an American author, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, he was one of the most influential film critics in the U.S...
, Walter de la Mare
Walter de la Mare
Walter John de la Mare , OM CH was an English poet, short story writer and novelist, probably best remembered for his works for children and the poem "The Listeners"....
, Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
and Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
. His instrumental works include the score to a 1972 film by Erich Kollmar.
In 1976 he moved to San Francisco and became theater critic at the San Francisco Bay Guardian
San Francisco Bay Guardian
The San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B...
, during its golden period when composer-actor Robert DiMatteo was also on the staff as film critic. In 1980 Theatre Rhinoceros
Theatre Rhinoceros
Theatre Rhinoceros or Theatre Rhino is a gay and lesbian theatre based in San Francisco. It was founded in the spring of 1977 by Lanny Baugniet and his partner Allan B. Estes, Jr....
produced Chesley's first one-act, Hell, I Love You; in 1984 his Night Sweat became one of the first produced full-length plays to deal with AIDS.
On August 31, 1986, his two-character play, Jerker, aired on the Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
station KPFK
KPFK
KPFK is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves the Greater Los Angeles Area, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet...
's IMRU Program. Its frank sexual language immediately stirred controversy; later that year the FCC rewrote its rules governing the broadcast of "questionable" works, citing Jerker as the test case.
He was also co-founder of the Three-Dollar Bill Theater in New York City.
In total, Chesley wrote 10 full-length and 21 one-act plays. Several works were premiered posthumously and all of his major plays have been published.
Chesley died of AIDS in San Francisco at the age of 47. The Robert Chesley Award for Lesbian and Gay Playwriting, given annually by Publishing Triangle, is named in his honor.
Plays
- Beatitudes (1984)
- Come Again: An Entertainment During The Siege (1987)
- Dog Plays (1989)
- Wild (Person, Tense) Dog
- The Deploration of Rover
- Hold
- Happy V.D.
- April First
- Arbor Day
- Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts
- The Scream
- A Christmas Card
- Hell, I Love You and Breaking Up: Fragments (1981)
- Madeleine de Lucien (1985)
- 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 DirtyJerkerJerker, 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 is a 1986 one-act play by Robert Chesley. The two-character play traces the relationship that develops between a disabled Vietnam...
(1986) - A Dog's Life
- Maggie's Play
- Somebody's Little Boy
- The Lost Doll
- Laughter and Tears
- Et Tu, Lesbo
- Nocturnes (1983)
- Night Sweat (1983)
- Pigman: A Comedy in Three Acts (1985-6)
- Private Theatricals: Morning, Noon & Night (1990)
- Stray Dog Story : An Adventure In Ten Scenes (1981)