Background
Robert Chesley was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1943. He moved to San Francisco in 1976 and became theater critic for
the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Chesley's first one-act play, "Hell, I Love You," was produced at Theatre Rhinoceros in 1980.
His play "Night Sweat" was the first full-length drama dealing with the AIDS crisis to be produced in New York. It had extended
runs in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Chesley wrote over 30 full-length and one-act plays. One of his most successful works
was “Jerker.” It had a long run in New York and generated controversy with the Federal Communications Commission when it was
aired on Pacifica Radio’s KPFK. Chesley died of AIDS in 1990. The Robert Chesley Award for Lesbian and Gay Playwriting, given
annually by Publishing Triangle, is named in his honor.