當(dāng)摩爾將軍遭遇“黑白戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)”

多虧了身居高位（起碼是中等偏上）的朋友，我竟然弄到了幾周前英國(guó)皇家歌劇院最后一場(chǎng)《奧賽羅》的演出票。在此之前我并沒有計(jì)劃去看這部戲。我人雖在倫敦，但那是為了另一場(chǎng)完全不同的演出。我還記得基斯· 華納（Keith Warner）于2017年執(zhí)導(dǎo)的這版制作，由喬納斯· 考夫曼（JonasKaufmann）擔(dān)綱主角，但樂評(píng)人的反應(yīng)不冷不熱。然而，2017年跟今天的世界，恍如隔世。這一次，考夫曼出局，羅素· 托馬斯（Russell Thomas）登場(chǎng)。整個(gè)制作都呈現(xiàn)出不同的色彩——嗯，包括演員的膚色。

一個(gè)多世紀(jì)以來，威爾第歌劇的主角——為了保衛(wèi)威尼斯帝國(guó)對(duì)抗奧斯曼帝國(guó)的摩爾人將軍——在舞臺(tái)上第一次出現(xiàn)時(shí)，他的形象就是一位黑人。但是，鑒于歌劇演員們的天賦，通常由白人男高音來?yè)?dān)綱該角色，這意味著他需要“涂黑臉”才能登上舞臺(tái)。可是，在過去幾年的美國(guó)，尤其是經(jīng)歷了抗議種族主義的“黑命攸關(guān)”（Black Lives Matter）運(yùn)動(dòng)，歌劇“涂黑臉”的傳統(tǒng)也遭遇了很大的沖擊。

在科文特公園的英國(guó)皇家歌劇院舞臺(tái)上，托馬斯是首位扮演奧賽羅的黑人男高音。在《奧賽羅》重演前幾天—— 可能只是幾個(gè)小時(shí)——美國(guó)非裔女高音安琪爾· 布魯（AngelBlue）宣布退出原定在維羅納歌劇節(jié)的首次亮相，她的這一決定是為了抗議安娜· 涅特里布科（AnnaNetrebko）在《阿依達(dá)》演出時(shí)按慣例涂上了黑臉?！霸谶@里我要非常清楚地聲明，”布魯在自己的社交媒體Instagram 與臉書（Facebook）上寫道，“在任何情況下涂黑臉，無論是為了藝術(shù)或是其他，都是一個(gè)基于陳舊的戲劇傳統(tǒng)而被嚴(yán)重誤導(dǎo)的做法……這在現(xiàn)代社會(huì)毫無立足之地……這一行為具有侮辱性，是一項(xiàng)恥辱和種族主義的行為。言盡于此?！?/p>

此言一出，立即成為國(guó)際歌劇界的頭條新聞。隨之而來的是各種反駁：這版《阿依達(dá)》早已不是什么新制作，如果該行為真的具有侮辱性，為什么之前沒有人抱怨過？還有，參與該制作的其他演員為什么沒有人被點(diǎn)名指責(zé)？很多讀者——包括我在內(nèi)——都在猜測(cè)，除了涅特里布科這位俄羅斯女高音，若是其他人擔(dān)綱主角，布魯是否也會(huì)有這么大的反應(yīng)。在當(dāng)今的國(guó)際關(guān)系背景下，西方歌劇院都或多或少地具有反俄情緒，涅特里布科的一舉一動(dòng)都成為眾矢之的。

盡管布魯在圈中有不少支持者，包括喬奈· 布里奇斯（J’Nai Bridges）以及毫不意外的羅素·托馬斯。但是，格蕾絲· 邦布里（Grace Bumbry）給出了一個(gè)更為深思熟慮的回應(yīng)——她于20 世紀(jì)七八十年代為黑人歌劇演員在美國(guó)開辟了新天地。“我的化妝柜里，有為飾演阿依達(dá)所需的埃及深色粉底，也有飾演圖蘭朵所需要的粉白色粉底，還有介于這兩種顏色之間的一切色號(hào)。倘若你研究過歷史——那是一名歌手應(yīng)做的功課——那么無論是哪部歌劇，你都可以清楚地了解角色背景。作為藝術(shù)家，你有權(quán)決定自己喜歡哪些角色，但要是你將自己局限于一些角色，如阿依達(dá)、梅耶貝爾《非洲女郎》中的塞利卡，或是《波吉與貝絲》中的貝絲，你就限制了自己的潛質(zhì)了。”她的這一番話讓我想起了我參加的已故演員西西莉· 泰森（Cicely" Tyson）的一次講座的經(jīng)歷。泰森在電影與話劇舞臺(tái)上開疆拓土，跟歌劇界的邦布里相似。在大學(xué)講堂里，有學(xué)生向她提問關(guān)于涂黑臉以及支持選角忠于劇中角色種族的各個(gè)議題后，她回答道：“如果堅(jiān)持只有黑人才可以扮演奧賽羅，那么我就永不能扮演苔絲狄蒙娜。作為一名職業(yè)演員和一個(gè)‘人’，我永遠(yuǎn)不能接受?！?/p>

其實(shí)，邦布里對(duì)布魯還有更多的話說：“為自己的種族感到自豪是一件崇高的事，這是每時(shí)每刻都應(yīng)該感到的榮耀。但如果你選擇參與歌劇演出，你首先要了解歷史以及觀眾對(duì)角色可信度的渴望?！睘榱俗C明自己的觀點(diǎn)，她又把話題繞回來提到莎士比亞：“你有沒有看過勞倫斯· 奧利維爾男爵（SirLaurence Olivier）扮演的奧賽羅？”

***

盛宗亮教授的學(xué)生們有機(jī)會(huì)看過奧利維爾扮演的奧賽羅。然而，這又是個(gè)新話題。

2021 年年末，密歇根大學(xué)榮譽(yù)教授兼知名作曲家盛宗亮正忙著修改歌劇《紅樓夢(mèng)》，準(zhǔn)備翌年在舊金山復(fù)排的具體細(xì)節(jié)。與此同時(shí)，他開設(shè)了一門大學(xué)研討課，帶領(lǐng)學(xué)生們探索不同敘事形式改編成歌劇作品的案例。在第一課里，他選擇了大概是最廣為人知的個(gè)案：莎士比亞筆下的摩爾人將軍（以及其他角色）是如何在威爾第的手中增添了嶄新的、獨(dú)立而又合情合理的生命色彩。他在課堂里放映的正是奧利維爾于1965 年拍攝的《奧賽羅》電影，該片中的四位主角當(dāng)年都獲得了奧斯卡金像獎(jiǎng)提名。

據(jù)報(bào)紙報(bào)道，年輕的大學(xué)生們看到白人涂上黑臉演出，紛紛目瞪口呆。校方收到了正式投訴，聲稱當(dāng)時(shí)很多學(xué)生都“覺得被冒犯了”，他們難以置信，為什么這個(gè)影片被選中作為教學(xué)材料，教授也沒有充分解釋他的用意。盛教授很快就辭去了教授這門課的職務(wù)。在接下來的幾周里他解釋，選擇這部電影是因?yàn)檫@個(gè)版本的《奧賽羅》最忠于莎士比亞的原文。他多次道歉，但是學(xué)生們還是不接受。

對(duì)于這些學(xué)生們以及其他支持他們的人來說，這個(gè)個(gè)案彰顯了學(xué)術(shù)界的傲慢，以及古典音樂世界根深蒂固的種族主義。另一些人則認(rèn)為那是過分激進(jìn)的學(xué)生們斷章取義的象征——尤其是在社交媒體與“取消文化”（cancel culture）融為一體的今天。某些人甚至把盛教授的那場(chǎng)電影教學(xué)喻為“學(xué)術(shù)騷擾”（academic harassment）。他們將盛教授的電影授課與密歇根大學(xué)音樂系教師性騷擾與被控強(qiáng)奸罪項(xiàng)故意混為一談。就事件本身而言，大學(xué)行政部門選擇支持學(xué)生，卻引發(fā)了另一次強(qiáng)烈反彈：有人控訴大學(xué)在面對(duì)種族問題時(shí)，自動(dòng)放棄了本應(yīng)維護(hù)的學(xué)術(shù)自由。

對(duì)此事為數(shù)不多的冷靜評(píng)論之一來自作家與莎士比亞學(xué)者阿雅娜· 湯姆森（Ayanna Thompson），她著有書籍《黑臉》（Blackface ），也是皇家莎士比亞劇團(tuán)董事局成員。雖然她認(rèn)為沒有讓學(xué)生們弄明白歷史背景是教育的失職，但湯姆森——她本人是黑人——覺得不展現(xiàn)這些“涂黑臉”將是一個(gè)更大的歷史失誤。

盡管很多人都認(rèn)為“涂黑臉”的傳統(tǒng)是始于美國(guó)吟游詩(shī)人（minstrelsy）時(shí)期，但湯姆森將這種做法追溯至中世紀(jì)的歐洲，更在研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)，正是1833 年的一場(chǎng)《奧賽羅》話劇演出啟發(fā)了T.D. 萊斯（T.D. Rice），他是公認(rèn)的開拓美國(guó)游吟詩(shī)人“涂黑臉”傳統(tǒng)的白人演員?！懊慨?dāng)你在課堂里教授莎士比亞，很簡(jiǎn)單，種族與演出歷史必須納入討論之中，”湯姆森接受《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》采訪說，“每一個(gè)人都有責(zé)任提供完整的歷史?！?/p>

***

好了，讓我們重返歌劇范疇。在敘事表演方面，無論是歌劇或話劇舞臺(tái)一直以來都強(qiáng)調(diào)以演員的藝術(shù)造詣為上，甚至忽略了身形面貌與角色的相似程度，盡管在實(shí)踐中，這兩種藝術(shù)形式很少同步。很多時(shí)候，我們很難界定最終被選中的演員，究竟是為了藝術(shù)性，還僅僅是為了吸引觀眾的眼球。看罷演出，我經(jīng)常會(huì)反問自己：這位演員真的是這個(gè)角色的最佳人選嗎？

再往前倒推幾十年，莎士比亞筆下最有爭(zhēng)議的人物，不是奧賽羅而是夏洛克，那位《威尼斯商人》里無情的放債人。在這部話劇里，他毀了銀行家的聲譽(yù)，又因?yàn)樗仟q太人，于是莎士比亞文中的那些負(fù)面描寫也變成那個(gè)年代盛行反猶太主義的證據(jù)。但到了20世紀(jì)90年代，大家的看法有所改變。莎士比亞話劇里大部分的角色表面上可能顯得簡(jiǎn)單，其實(shí)極為復(fù)雜，所以我們也應(yīng)該對(duì)夏洛克有更深層次的理解。也許問題不在于劇本，而在于演繹。突然間，當(dāng)達(dá)斯汀· 霍夫曼（Dustin Hoffman）與羅恩· 萊布曼（Ron Leibman）這幾位猶太裔演員擔(dān)綱這個(gè)角色后，夏洛克似乎開始顯得不一樣了——即使不惹人憐憫，最起碼人物形象更為多面性。

可惜《威尼斯商人》在歌劇舞臺(tái)上沒有什么機(jī)會(huì)大展拳腳。就算你算上安德烈·柴可夫斯基（AndréTchaikowsky）的那部歌劇——十年前由基斯· 華納（無獨(dú)有偶?。﹫?zhí)導(dǎo)首演，主角夏洛克由非裔美國(guó)男中音擔(dān)綱（那次選角令人矚目，很明顯是故意博取觀眾注意）——但是，《威尼斯商人》無法挑戰(zhàn)《奧賽羅》這個(gè)金字招牌。無論是改編歌劇的藝術(shù)成就，或是展示不同藝術(shù)載體在演出傳統(tǒng)方面的分歧，《奧賽羅》都是佼佼者。

現(xiàn)如今，對(duì)于美國(guó)任何一家歌劇院來說，要用“涂黑臉”來搬演《奧賽羅》或是其他有需要的劇目，簡(jiǎn)直是不可思議的。轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)是2015 年大都會(huì)歌劇院的《奧賽羅》，該劇導(dǎo)演、兩屆托尼獎(jiǎng)得主巴特利特· 舍爾（Bartlett Sher）在接受導(dǎo)演訪談時(shí)仔細(xì)分析了角色內(nèi)藏的戲劇性含義以及——演員亞歷山大· 安東寧科（Alexandrs Antonenko）在演出時(shí)沒有涂上特殊的粉底，而是保留了自己的白人膚色——現(xiàn)代世界再不能容許涂黑臉這種違反道德合法性的行為。

奇怪的是，就算種族言辭如此激烈，這個(gè)爭(zhēng)議卻實(shí)現(xiàn)了某種藝術(shù)目的。擦掉“摩爾人”的表面字符，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)大家心里對(duì)“摩爾人”的定義非常不同。雖然有時(shí)候這個(gè)字眼代表某些語言群，它卻包含了膚色比較淺的阿拉伯人、生活在北非的柏柏爾人（Berbers），還有生活在非洲南部的膚色更深的穆斯林種族。我們普遍同意，摩爾人的寓意是“異族”，具體來說，他代表“非基督教信徒”。

那么，誰真正具有扮演摩爾人將軍的資格呢？問問導(dǎo)演吧。

***

我最初遇上所謂“ 色盲” 選角（“colorblind”casting）是紐約中央公園舉行的莎士比亞戲劇節(jié)。他們請(qǐng)來了丹澤爾· 華盛頓（Denzel Washington）主演《理查三世》（Richard" III）。公眾批評(píng)他不是因?yàn)樗呛谌耍驗(yàn)樗莻€(gè)電影明星。盡管他的臺(tái)風(fēng)很有說服力，演技也很細(xì)膩，但他是一位帥哥，跟英語話劇史上最著名的殘疾人士的長(zhǎng)相差距實(shí)在太大了。

大概20年后，今年7 月公共劇院再次在中央公園搬演《理查三世》。已經(jīng)有過了黑人當(dāng)主角的話題，這一次劇組必須再創(chuàng)先河：他們于是請(qǐng)來了達(dá)娜·古瑞拉（Danai Gurira）擔(dān)綱主角。她是一位“性別流體”（gender-fluid）黑人演員，成名作包括電影《黑豹》（Black Panther）與電視劇《行尸走肉》（TheWalking Dead ）。在華盛頓先生出演理查一角多年后，“色盲”選角演變?yōu)椤邦伾庾R(shí)”（color-conscious）選角，劇團(tuán)故意把不同族裔的演員擺在一起，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)種族融合正是重點(diǎn)。如今，性別觀也同樣地開放了。但是，當(dāng)古瑞拉在臺(tái)上一邊游走一邊描述自己“畸形”的身軀時(shí)，我們觀眾所看到的“不一樣”只是她的膚色。那么，她談及的“畸形”是關(guān)于她自身的種族？當(dāng)晚，在德拉克特劇院（DelacorteTheatre）有不少殘疾演員參與了演出——舞臺(tái)上起碼有兩位聽覺障礙者與幾位坐在輪椅上的演員——但古瑞拉顯然不屬于殘疾之列。

盡管種族仍然還是強(qiáng)有力的話題，但今天它只不過是一桌子紙牌中的其中之一，因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在興起的“身份認(rèn)同政治”（identity politics）囊括了身體殘疾、精神疾病以及性取向（包括跨性別演員與人物）。美國(guó)公共劇院公演《理查三世》同期，皇家莎士比亞劇團(tuán)在埃文河畔斯特拉特福（Stratford-upon-Avon）也搬演了同一部話劇，由患有橈畸形手（即手部發(fā)育不全）的亞瑟· 休斯（Arthur Hughes）擔(dān)綱主角。導(dǎo)演格雷戈里· 多蘭（Gregory Doran）在倫敦《泰晤士報(bào)》聲稱，如今硬要藝術(shù)家假裝殘疾飾演理查“可能不會(huì)被接受”。

很抱歉，我又離題了……我剛才談及科文特花園的《奧賽羅》，這讓我們洞悉歌劇與話劇的核心區(qū)別，基本上就是演員供應(yīng)和角色需求。找來黑人演奧賽羅原版話劇比較容易;物色黑人歌劇演員演奧賽羅就艱難了。就連上世紀(jì)下半葉最富才華的男高音帕瓦羅蒂在年輕時(shí)都堅(jiān)持拒絕演出奧賽羅，到了60 歲后才首次在舞臺(tái)上擔(dān)綱這個(gè)角色。如果威爾第的摩爾人讓帕瓦羅蒂都望而卻步，那么年輕一代的普通凡人又該怎么辦呢？

羅素· 托馬斯的確是位有天賦的歌唱家。他去年夏天在辛辛那提飾演卡瓦拉多西（搭檔奎因· 凱爾西飾演斯卡爾皮亞，安娜· 瑪麗亞· 馬丁內(nèi)斯飾演托斯卡），那也是我多年來欣賞普契尼歌劇角色配搭中最出色的組合之一。但是托馬斯出演奧賽羅卻功力不足，起碼火候還欠缺了些，聲音的張力往往到了句末就消失了。我至少有一次聽到他在唱詞的音節(jié)間偷偷換氣。但他還年輕，現(xiàn)在將他排除在奧賽羅候選之外未免言之過早。

最令我失望的，是科文特花園。在這個(gè)分裂的時(shí)代，一個(gè)極端要求徹底忠于真實(shí)，另一個(gè)極端卻是全面反對(duì)，皇家歌劇院給我們的只是一個(gè)令人半信半疑的妥協(xié)，這肯定會(huì)在某個(gè)地方惹惱某些人。最終，他們獻(xiàn)給觀眾的奧賽羅，只是一位非裔美國(guó)男高音，而不是真正的摩爾人。

Thanks to friends in high （or at least mediumhigh）places， I managed to score tickets to the lastperformance of Otello a few weeks ago at the RoyalOpera House. I hadn’t planned to go. I was in Londonfor a completely different gig， and I remember thelukewarm reception Keith Warner’s productionreceived back in 2017 with Jonas Kaufmann in the titlerole. But that was then. By now， Kaufmann was out，Russell Thomas was in， and the whole production hadtaken on a different， um， complexion.

For more than a century， Verdi’s title character—a Moorish general defending the Venetian empireagainst the Ottomans—has been portrayed as a Blackman. Given the nature of operatic talent， that hasmeant that the singers themselves were usually whitetenors playing the role in blackface. But in the past fewyears in America， particularly after the racially chargedBlack Lives Matter movement， this has becomepolitically untenable. At Covent Garden， Thomaswould become the company’s first Black tenor ever tosing the role.

Only a few days—possibly afew hours—before the Otellorevival， the African-Americansoprano Angel Blue pulledout of her scheduled debutat the Arena di Verona inprotest over a blackface Aidastarring Anna Netrebko indark-complected makeup.“Let me be perfectly clear，”Blue posted on her Instagramand Facebook pages， “theuse of blackface under anycircumstances， artistic orotherwise， is a deeply misguided practice based onarchaic theatrical traditions which have no place inmodern society…It’s offensive， humiliating and racist.Full stop.”

The announcement made international headlines.Then came the blowback： this Aida production washardly new， and if it was so offensive， why had noone ever complained before？ And why did none ofthe other cast members in the current run attractattention. Many readers—myself included—wonderedwhether Blue would’ve reacted the same way to anyother soprano besides Netrebko， who in the currentanti-Russian sentiment among Western opera houseshas become a lightning rod of public sentiment.

Although Blue found plenty of support among herpeers， including J’Nai Bridges and （not incidentally）Russell Thomas， a more thoughtful response camefrom Grace Bumbry， herself a pioneering African-American opera singer from the late 1970s and’80s. “My makeup cabinet runs the gamut from Dark"Egyptian [for Aida] to Chalk White [for Turandot] andeverything between. If you do your historical studies， asone should， you get a clear picture as to the backgroundof the characters， no matter what the opera. As an artist，you may decide which roles you prefer， but to limityourself to [Aida， Selika from Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine ，and Bess] limits your possibilities.” It reminded me ofhearing a public speech by the late Cicely Tyson， whodid for film and the dramatic stage what Bumbry did inthe opera house. Challenged by a college-age audienceto reject blackface and support racial-specific casting，she responded， “To say that only a Black man can playOthello means that I could never play Desdemona，and as a professional actor and a human being， I couldnever accept that.”

Bumbry， for her part， had more to say to Blue. “Tobe proud of your race is a noble thing， and one shouldbe honored all the time，” she continued， “but if youmake the choice to perform in opera， you must firstknow the history and the desire for credibility.” Thento make her case， she circled back to Shakespeare.“Did you ever have the opportunity to see Sir LaurenceOlivier in the role of Othello？”

***

Students of Bright Sheng had chance to see Olivierplay Othello. That was the problem.

Back in late 2021， Sheng， a composer and distinguishedprofessor at the University of Michigan， was reworkinghis opera Dream of the Red Chamber for its revival inSan Francisco. At the same time， he was teaching anundergraduate seminar on adapting operatic worksfrom other narrative forms. For his first session， hechose arguably the most famous example in therepertory： how Shakespeare’s Moorish general （and

other characters） took on new， separate， yet entirelyvalid life in Verdi’s hands. His classroom text wasOlivier’s 1965 film， in which the four top actors allreceived Oscar nominations.

According to newspaper accounts， the youngstudents sat in stunned silence seeing a white actorin blackface. A formal complaint was lodged at theuniversity， saying that many students were “incrediblyoffended by both this video and the lack of explanationas to why this was selected for our class.” Sheng soonstepped down from teaching the course. Over the nextfew weeks， he explained that he chose this version ofOthello because it was most faithful to Shakespeare’stext. He offered numerous apologies， all rejected bythe student body.

To the students—and others who had picked upthe cause—it was yet another case of arrogance inacademia and the ingrained racism in the classicalmusic world. For others， it was a sign of entitled，overenthusiastic students run amok—a modernconfluence of social media and cancel culture thatparadoxically echoed the situation that Sheng sawgrowing up in China in the 1960s. Some even dubbedSheng’s film screening as “academic harassment，”conflating his screening a film with several cases ofsexual harassment and alleged rape by other membersof the university’s music faculty. The university， forits part， backed the students， triggering yet anotherbacklash and charges that the university wasjettisoning its own principles of academic freedomwhen confronted with questions of race.

One of the few level-headed comments on thematter came from the author and Shakespeare scholarAyanna Thompson， author of the book Blackface and atrustee of the Royal Shakespeare Company. While sheconsidered not giving students enough prior contextas a lapse in teaching， Thompson—who is Blackherself—claimed that not showing blackface would bea far greater historical lapse.

Despite the frequent claim that blackface began withAmerican minstrelsy， Thompson traces the practiceback to Europe in the Middle Ages and actually creditsan 1833 performance of Othello with inspiring T.D.Rice， the white American performer generally regardedas the father of minstrelsy. “Whenever you’re teachingShakespeare， period， the history of performing raceshould be part of the discussion” she told the NewYork Times . “Everyone has responsibility to give thefull history.”

***

Which brings us back to opera. In terms of narrativeperformance， both the musical and dramatic stagehave historically stressed a performer’s quality ofartistry over physical resemblance， though in termsof putting that into practice the two artforms haverarely been in synch. These days， it’s often hard totell whether a show’s casting has been done to serveartistic ends， or merely to provoke. I’ve increasinglyasked myself at the end of a show， Is this really thebest performer for this role？

Up until the past decade or so， Shakespeare’s mostproblematic character was not Othello but Shylock，the ruthless moneylender in The Merchant of Venice .He didn’t exactly give bankers a good name， andbecause he was Jewish， the negative portrayal wasgenerally perceived as evidence of the antisemitismin Shakespeare’s day. But sometime in the 1990s，people began to see the role rather differently. Sincemost of Shakespeare’s characters turn out to be morecomplex than they first appear， perhaps Shylock

was too. Maybe the problem is not with the scriptbut in performance and interpretation. Suddenly， asJewish actors like Dustin Hoffman and Ron Leibmanbegan playing the role， Shylock seemed—if not reallysympathetic， at least more multifaceted.

But The Merchant of Venice hasn’t had much of anoperatic profile. Even if you count André Tchaikowsky’ssetting—first staged 10 years ago by （of all people）Keith Warner， and staring （of all things） an AfricanAmerican baritone as Shylock （which I think we canall agree was provocation）—it’s not likely to challengeOt（h）ello as the gold standard， either as operatictransformation or the point of departure where theartforms diverge in their performance practices.

Today it is inconceivable for an American operacompany to stage Otello—or any other work—usingblackface. For the turning point， we can probablypoint to the Metropolitan Opera’s 2015 productionby two-time Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher， whospoke at length as a theatrical director both about thepsychological implications of the character and—withthe untouched whiteness of Alexandrs Antonenko inthe title role—the moral illegitimacy of blackface in themodern world.

Strangely， given the fierceness of the racial rhetoric，the controversy served an artistic purpose. Scratchbeneath the word “Moor” and you find very littleagreement over what it actually means. Thoughoccasionally applied to a certain linguistic group， itcan refer equally to lighter-skinned Arabs and Berbersof North Africa or darker-skinned Muslims furthersouth. The only thing people generally agree on is thatit indicates “the other，” specifically “non-Christian.”

So who is truly qualified to play the Moorishgeneral？ It all depends on the production.

***

One of my early experiences with what they usedto call “colorblind” casting was when the New YorkShakespeare Festival staged Richard III in CentralPark with Denzel Washington. People complainedless about him being Black than about him being amovie star. Despite a compelling presence and wellcalibratedperformance， he was simply too goodlookingto play the most famously disabled characterin the English-speaking theatre.

Last July， some two decades later， the PublicTheater again brought Richard III to Central Park.Having already cast a Black man in the role， they nowhad to up the ante： This time Richard was played byDanai Gurira—a gender-fluid Black woman best knownfor playing in Black Panther and the television seriesThe Walking Dead. Since that first Richard， “colorblind”

had morphed to “color-conscious” casting， whenmixing races was precisely the point. Now gender isopen as well. But as Gurira walks around the stage，talking about being “deformed，” we’re left thinkingthat her only deformity is her race. Despite thenumerous disabilities in the Delacorte Theatre thatnight—the stage was filled with at least two deafactors， several wheelchair-bound performers and achecklist of other disablilities—Gurira herself was notactually disabled.

Though race remains potent， it’s now become justone card in a fuller deck， with identity politics nowembracing physical and mental disabilities as well assexual orientation （including transgender portrayals）.Running almost concurrent with the Public Theaterproduction was production of Richard III by the RoyalShakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon starredArthur Hughes， an actor with radial dysplasia （whereone arm is notably shorter that the other）. DirectorGregory Doran told The Times of London that thesedays having actors pretend to be disabled in the role“would probably not be acceptable.”

Sorry， I got a bit distracted…. I was talking aboutOtello at Covent Garden， which brings us straightto the core difference between opera and theatre，essentially the relative supply of talent and thedemands of the role in question. Casting Black actorsas Othello is comparably simple; casting Black tenorsas Otello is quite problematic. Even Luciano Pavarotti，the most gifted tenor in the second half of the 20thcentury， declined to perform Otello in public until hewas 60. If singing Verdi’s Moor was “too difficult” forPavarotti， what does that say about the mere mortalsof a younger generation.

Russell Thomas is truly a gifted singer. His Cavaradossilast summer in Cincinnati （along with Quinn Kelsey’sScarpia and Ana Maria Martínez’s Tosca） was some ofthe best Puccini casting I’ve heard in years. But Thomasis no Otello， at least not yet. His first outing in the rolestarted out strong， but his stamina left much to bedesired. He often lost intensity at the end of his scenes，and at least once I heard him breathing in the middle ofa word. But he’s still young， and shouldn’t be ruled outfor the long haul.

I was much less disappointed in the performancesthan I was with Covent Garden itself. In these divisivetimes， with one camp calling for full authenticity whileanother calls for none at all， the Royal Opera Houseoffered a half-hearted compromise that was stillbound to upset someone somewhere. Ultimately， allthey offered as Otello was an African American tenor，not an actual Moor.