The Tooth of Crime is the other play by Sam Shepard that Richard appeared in at the Royal Court.

The play itself is a sort of "talking opera" that revolves around two rock singers, Hoss and Crow who are battling it out, to be the top star- the King of Rock-n-Roll, and "control" or fame in Las Vegas.

I'm going to take a stab in the dark and guess that Richard played the part of Crow. Just from the description of the character, style of dress and the picture at right- "The newly crowned King of Rock and Roll"- because during the course of the play the two characters have a showdown, a moral fight to the finish (with whatever morals come with rock stars) and Crow is victorious, leaving Hoss as a relic-a reminder of an earlier time.

Crow does attempt to help Hoss "re-invent" himself, but Hoss can't take the idea of being something he's not and ends up killing himself.

A bit of the "Fight":

Crow: Pants down. The moon show. Ass out the window. Belt lash. Whip lash. Side Slash to the kid with the lisp. The dumb kid. The loser. The runt. The mutt. The shame kid. Kid on his belly. Belly to the blacktop. Slide on the rooftop. Slide through the parkin' lot. Slide kid. Shame kid. Slide. Slide.
Hoss: Never catch me with beer in my hand. Never caught me with my pecker out. Never get caught. Never once. Never, Never. Fast on the hoof. Fast on the roof. Fast in the still night. Faster than the headlight. Fast to the move.

Thanks to Ruth for the Pic.