Cowboy Mouth Ropes in Emotions

Author: Laura Rockefeller

Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll were all part of the show in this weekend's production of Sam Shepard's wild play "Cowboy Mouth." The production, directed by Sarah Peters '04 in the Hepburn Zoo Theatre, was a passionate and intense roller-coaster ride of emotions, propelled by live music courtesy of Will Cleveland '04, Ryan Bogart '04, Perry Blackshear '05 and Matt Coons '04.

The play, set in the early 1970s, delved into the relationship between a man and woman who were both driven by their worship of music and poetry, the longing to create and the need for the stimulation and support of each other. In her director's notes, Peters quoted Patti Smith, who collaborated with Shepard on the writing of this play, as saying, "We were ... trying to talk about two people that were destined - two big dreamers who came together but were destined to come to a sad end." And in watching the piece it became apparent that such an intense passion between two such dynamic artists was inevitably going to ignite, explode and finally consume itself in the blaze.

Sheila Seles '05 as Cavale and Andres Arazoza '05 as Slim created a very convincing and deep relationship between their two characters - a relationship that changed rapidly from moments of desperately needing each other to frantically driving each other away. Seles gave a particularly striking performance, facing the fact that her character was chronically popping pills during the show and taking the freedom and abandon that resulted from the drugs to the extreme.

The emotions and hysteria became so intense as Cavale took more pills and Slim drank more tequila, entering into a drug induced alter-reality of their own creation, that it was hard to really enjoy the play. But there was something fascinating and almost intoxicating in the mixture of the words and the music that kept the audience engaged. There was one particular monologue in which Slim, in an attempt to soothe Cavale, told the story of how he had once attempted to dam up a river. As he spoke, the flowing notes of the piano underscoring his speech echoed the sounds of the river and created a beautiful and poetic moment - a refreshing break from the screaming, swearing and loud drum beats.

Perhaps the most memorable character in the production, and the most extraordinary, was "the Lobsterman." When Arazoza first picked up the phone and called "the Lobsterman" to bring them a lobster and a bottle of tequila, I assumed that he was just drunk. It never crossed my mind that a few moments later a loud banging on the drum would announce the entrance of a real Lobsterman - an actor in a full lobster suit, complete with enormous claws, tale, feelers and a very large, very yellow raincoat and hat. However, in marched Nick Cloutier '06 in his lobster suit, looking composedly around at unsuspecting audience members, who laughed uncontrollably, never imagining that this unnatural creature would in fact be the Savior for whom Caval had been searching for so long, and who would finally pull Slim and Caval apart.

Although the play was difficult to watch with its incessant fever pitch of emotion, both in the acting and in the music, the characters and the world that they created through their imagination, the music and the remarkable set were gripping. Live music is a rarity in the Zoo, and it, along with the presence of the musicians' shadows behind the screen, added a deeper texture to the whole performance. It was a fascinating evening of theater that certainly made the spectators stop and think about what they had just seen.