Rock 'n' roll fling

People want a saint but with a cowboy mouth.

Or so Cavale tells Slim in "Cowboy Mouth," a 1971 play written by Sam Shepard and his then-lover, musician Patti Smith.

The play, produced by SCRAP Productions and opening today at the Box Performance Space at 1025 Lomas Blvd. N.W., is loosely based on Shepard and Smith's affair in New York.

"They don't claim it's autobiographical, but it's about two people having an affair in the Chelsea Hotel, which is where they wrote it," director Abby Cole said.

The play takes place in a sparse hotel room with a bed, a side table and trash everywhere, looking like any cheap, junked and generic hotel room.

Like his character Slim, Shepard left his wife and child and had a public affair with Smith in 1971. Slim says his wife has left him with their child and gone to Brooklyn, which is exactly what Shepard's wife did, though he left her first for Smith. Shepard and Smith performed their roles only once, in the play's debut, and then Shepard went back to his wife.

Cole said "Cowboy Mouth" is about the tension between loneliness and the fight to find connection.

"It gives a close view into the personal love-hate relationship between two people who are trying to find their relationship with each other and with themselves," Cole said.

Slim and Cavale's common interest in rock-and-roll icons and their explorations into art provide them a temporary escape from their lives.

"It's very human," Cole said. "It's about trying to create a rock 'n' roll savior. It's relevant for people in our time who are looking for faith in something, whether it is rock 'n' roll, God, something. It's about wanting to love someone."

Cavale tells Slim that he's "gotta be like a rock 'n' roll Jesus with a cowboy mouth."

UNM graduate Hannah Kauffmann, who plays Cavale, said whether "Cowboy Mouth" is actually a love story has been debated. She said it's not necessarily about love between two people but about the role of the artist and how that role can bring people together.

"It's about being in love with music and the search for stardom," Kauffmann said. "This brings Slim and Cavale together in a way that they wouldn't if they didn't have that in common."

But this focus on art also distracts them from each other.

"They are so focused on their ultimate goals that they don't live in the moment at all," Kauffmann said.

The third character in the play, a huge, elaborate red lobster appropriately named Lobster Man, does not have lines and is merely a presence in the room. He is Slim and Cavale's imaginary creation and shows up when they need a third party present because they can't depend on each other for a solution.

"So even Slim and Cavale's imaginations let them down because their creation fails to entertain them," Cole said.

UNM student Serouj Bingham, who plays Slim, said his character wants to be more than he is, but Lobster Man beats him to it.

"The Lobster Man is the embodiment of all of Cavale's hopes, dreams and desires of what she wants in a partner. He is all the things Slim is not. Sadly, Slim falls short," Bingham said.

Bingham said he had to learn how to play guitar for the role, and Kauffmann improved her singing. Both were assisted by music director Casey Mraz, who used Patti Smith-style rock in the show.

Kauffmann said the dialogue is strong and carries the action.

"It's very word-focused," she said. "It's about language."

Cole said "Cowboy Mouth" has elements of surrealism and the absurd.

"It has a very circular, repetitive quality," she said. "Neither character is really content in the end. They never really find what they are looking for."

Kauffmann said she has always looked up to Patti Smith and is grateful to have played the same role.

"She is the grandmother of modern-day punk," she said. "All of her music is so interesting and heartfelt. I've always had kind of an artist crush on her."

"Cowboy Mouth"

Thursday-Saturday, 7 p.m.

Through Nov. 22

Box Performance Space

1025 Lomas Blvd. N.W.