精英體育：當運動員的故事登上舞臺

幾周前， 我在曼哈頓戲劇俱樂部（ManhattanTheatre Club）的劇場里看了《詹姆斯王》（KingJames）的“早鳥”試演場次。這個故事沒有任何宗教色彩，除非你的信仰是籃球。事實上，這出話劇的兩位演員正是追隨籃球的虔誠信徒。有趣的是，劇作家拉吉夫· 約瑟夫（Rajiv Joseph） 堅定地說，這部作品實際上不是關于籃球運動的。

兩天后，我在大都會歌劇院觀看了《冠軍》（Champion ），那是作曲家、格萊美獎爵士音樂獎得主，聲名顯赫的傳奇人物特倫斯·布蘭查德（TerenceBlanchard）的首部歌劇。《冠軍》創作于2013 年，把埃米爾· 格里菲斯（Emile Griffith）的一生帶上舞臺，從多方面打破了大眾對于這項體育運動的刻板印象。可是，布蘭查德也同樣堅定地說，這部作品事實上并不是關于拳擊運動的。

所以，如果《詹姆斯王》與籃球無關——劇名指的是勒布朗· 詹姆斯（LeBron James），當今籃球界天王；《冠軍》與拳擊無關——歌劇院的宣傳海報以赤裸上身的萊恩· 斯比多· 格林（Ryan SpeedoGreen）為主視覺，并在文案中強調了這位男中音為了演好角色是如何艱苦鍛煉的。那這兩部作品究漢諾威國家歌劇院竟是說什么的？

20 世紀80 年代， 雷蒙德· 卡佛（RaymondCarver）發表了一篇短篇小說，名為“我們談戀愛時候所聊的話題”（What We Talk About When WeTalk About Love），故事中兩對戀人開了第二瓶金酒之后，討論就偏離了主題，開始毫無顧忌地深究男女之間的微妙關系。除了開金酒之外，《詹姆斯王》與《冠軍》的敘事模式基本上跟這部小說如出一轍，毫無避忌地深究體育項目。

差不多每一篇《詹姆斯王》的劇評都在提醒大家：你不需要深入了解籃球世界就可以欣賞這部話劇。你未必會留意到故事覆蓋的12 年時間的跨度剛好被分成四“節”——就像籃球賽一樣——每一節聚焦的正是勒布朗職業生涯的某個重要時刻。你也可能會錯過約瑟夫既精彩又精簡、卻繪聲繪色敘述的2016 年美國職業籃球聯賽（NBA）冠軍總決賽的緊張賽情。那場比賽正是勒布朗帶領克利夫蘭騎士隊（Cleveland Cavaliers）52 年來首次榮登冠軍寶座的榮耀時刻。說真的，你只要明白什么東西會令男人著迷，其他細節都會自然到位。

實際上，這些細節通常與競技體育沒有很大的關系，而是關于人與人之間如何建立友情。樹立公民自豪感的最好工具就是一支球隊——有時候，球隊或城市處境越困難，市民就更會投入其中。沒有人會把克利夫蘭與紐約或洛杉磯混淆，籃球迷們對于騎士隊（Cavaliers）、尼克斯隊（Knicks）與湖人隊（Lakers）也都是劃清界限、涇渭分明。如果你想理解美國國家的政治兩極化，看看擁護自家球隊的粉絲是多么積極并惡意譏笑其他隊伍就可想而知。

這種渲染力，就算在小小的舞臺上也同樣強大。約瑟夫劇中的兩個人——一位白人，一位黑人——會辯論勒布朗究竟是當紅明星還是名副其實的“山羊”（GOAT，即Greatest of All Time 縮寫，意為“史上最偉大”），也會討論勒布離開克利夫蘭朗轉職到洛杉磯發展的行為是英雄還是叛徒。這些爭論都讓兩個朋友走得更近——大部分時候朋友就是這樣。

你知道嗎？在美國討論體育，很有可能會引發另一種具有爭議性的話題。自認為自己是“黑人”種族的人口數量，在美國人口調查中僅略高于12% ；相比之下，在美國職業籃球這個行業里，黑人隊員比例超過80%。由于球迷幾乎是百分之百認同這些黑人球星，整件事情就變得有點尷尬。比如說，白人粉絲會用上他們擁護的黑人球員的方言與習慣，或者白人粉絲也會批評黑人球員的操守等。在《詹姆斯王》中，關于球員應該對自己的球隊以及本地粉絲心存感激，還是可以自由制定自己的發展路線，到外面闖闖？兩位演員的討論變得嚴肅而深沉，語氣越發尖酸刻薄（因為劇中的那個黑人角色跟勒布朗一樣，打算離開克利夫蘭到西海岸發展，于是兩人的爭論越發激烈）。

在大都會歌劇院的舞臺上，《冠軍》恰巧走向了相反的方向。我們可以找到《詹姆斯王》與《冠軍》的一些共通點：兩部戲都是美國中西部孕育出來的，首演后才移師至東西兩岸。《冠軍》在圣路易斯誕生（由圣路易斯歌劇院與圣路易斯爵士協會聯合委約），在舊金山平衡歌劇院（Opera Parallèle）呈獻新制作首演后，才移師東岸。《詹姆斯王》由芝加哥荒原狼劇院（Steppenwolf Theatre）制作并首演，又在洛杉磯演出后才來到曼哈頓戲劇俱樂部。有一些劇評人甚至認為有必要花時間和精力解釋劇目在其他城市演出的一些細節，包括當地球隊的背景等。

然而，除此之外，兩部戲的規模與動機都截然不同。《詹姆斯王》只用了兩位演員，這種戲劇形式可以追溯至戲劇藝術的開端（歷史上唯一更悠久的形式是古典希臘合唱團跟一位主角互動）。對手戲（又稱雙人劇）十分普遍，以致田納西· 威廉斯（Tennessee Williams）編寫了一出名為《對手戲》的雙人戲。《詹姆斯王》要是加上一兩位演員（但保留原名）或會更引起大眾的興趣。你看看維吉爾·湯姆森（Virgil Thomson）與格特魯德·斯泰因（GertrudeStein）的歌劇《三幕劇中四圣人》（Four Saints inThree Acts ），那是個四幕劇，里面起碼有六個圣人。對不起，我離題了。

《冠軍》的情況則不一樣：除了臺上演員陣容豪華，還有不止兩位演員分擔同一個角色。在《詹姆斯王》的劇中，勒布朗的精神到處都是，但這一具體人物從來都沒有出現；在《冠軍》里，埃米爾· 格里菲斯除了他那參與拳擊、年青氣壯的模樣，也有童年（童聲男高音）與老年（低男中音）版本。同樣的音樂與戲劇性處理手法也運用在布蘭查德的第二部歌劇《骨子里的烈火》（Fire Shut Up in MyBones ）中，那正是大都會歌劇院于上個演出季搬演的熱門作品。

盡管《詹姆斯王》的音樂成分只限于一位打碟師（雖然她的名字出現在演員表，但她并不是劇中人物），《冠軍》則利用了整個歌劇院的管弦樂團兼爵士小組。宣傳資料描述這部作品為“爵士樂中的歌劇”（an opera in jazz），并非“爵士歌劇”（jazz opera），但這部作品偶爾也投入正統歌劇的懷抱——特別是那些深情的獨唱段落，以及重唱中每個人都在表達不同觀點。在大多數情況下，《冠軍》展示了一個喧鬧而輝煌的盛會。如果樂團沒有那么龐大，演唱者不使用那么多的美聲歌劇唱法，大可以想象《冠軍》是一出百老匯戲碼。

關于兩部戲的區別，我還有很多見解，但最終這些差異歸結為運動員自身以及體育項目的關鍵性分歧。勒布朗今年年初打破美國職業籃球聯賽個人總得分最高紀錄之后名聲大噪，他不需要現身都已經是大眾焦點。埃米爾還未成為職業拳擊手前，在美屬維爾京群島（Virgin Islands）是個安靜的雙性向女帽工匠（可想而知，以上的描述顛覆了很多人看待職業拳擊的某些成見），在老家參加次重量級拳擊嶄露頭角，然后跑到紐約闖天下。他畢生的遺憾就是在比賽中曾打死過一名對手，那種悔意陰魂不散，縈繞他的余生。埃米爾十年前悄然離世，除? Ken Howard了那些真正的拳擊粉絲以外，他已經被人們遺忘了。

不少人抱怨勒布朗當年離開克利夫蘭是自私的行為，但是也有很多人認同當年他選擇離開，因為他有理想，想加入更強大的隊伍。到了話劇的最后一場，勒布朗回歸克利夫蘭，不僅團結了當地市民（在市中心舉行萬人空巷的慶功集會），也讓兩個老朋友復合，并即興舉行廢紙簍投球比拼，這成為這部話劇最恒久的隱喻。

格里菲斯參與的體育門類與團隊合作剛好相反。雖然有母親、經紀人、妻子和情人——還有數千粉絲圍繞著他——但他的工作非常孤獨。也許只有斗牛這項運動要比拳擊更孤獨。到了歌劇末段，他腦部功能退化，整天都被過去職業生涯的幽靈困擾，格里菲斯要面對過去的冤魂就像面對年青時代的對手一樣：在拳擊臺上，他最終唯一可以依賴的人只有他自己。

A few weeks ago， I was at the Manhattan Theatre Clubto see an early preview of King James . Nothing terriblyreligious there， unless you happen to worship basketball.And actually， the two characters in the play prettymuch did. The funny thing is， playwright Rajiv Josephinsists that his play isn’t really about basketball.

Two days later， I found myself at the MetropolitanOpera to see Champion ， the 2013 debut opera bycomposer and Grammy-winning jazz legend TerenceBlanchard. Champion brought to the stage the truelifestory of boxer Emile Griffith， who in several waysshatters stereotypes usually associated with his sport.But Blanchard had also been quick to say that his operaisn’t really about boxing.

So if King James —whose title refers to LeBronJames， basketball’s current deity—isn’t about basketball，and Champion —where promotional materialsfeature a shirtless Ryan Speedo Green and extensivedescriptions of how the baritone went into physicaltraining for the role—isn’t about boxing， what exactlyare these shows about？

Back in the 1980s， Raymond Carver wrote a storycalled “What We Talk About When We Talk AboutLove，” where two couples start discussing the finerpoints of relationships but after opening their secondbottle of gin rather stray from the topic. Except for thegin， King James and Champion essentially follow thesame game plan regarding sports.

Nearly every review of King James has made noteof the fact that you don’t really need to know muchabout basketball to appreciate the play. You might notnotice that its 12-year timespan is broken up into four"“quarters”—like a basketball game—marking significantmoments in LeBron’s career. You’d also miss Joseph’sbrilliant concision in recounting specific details from the2016 NBA Championship game， when LeBron led theCleveland Cavaliers to their first title victory in 52 years.But really， all you need to follow are patterns of maleobsession and let the details take care of themselves.

Those details， in fact， are usually less about sportsthan they are about establishing camaraderie. Nothingbuilds civic pride like a sports team—and sometimesthe worse the team， or the city， the deeper the devotion.And just as no one would confuse Cleveland withNew York or Los Angeles， fans draw often harsh distinctionbetween the Cavaliers， the Knicks and the Lakers.If you want to follow the trajectory of America’s politicalpolarization， take a look at the way fans now followthe city of their choice and deride the others.

The effect， though， can be just as strong on asmaller scale. No matter how much Joseph’s twocharacters—one white， the other black—argue aboutwhether LeBron is merely the star of the moment orthe genuine GOAT （“Greatest of All Time”）， or whetherhe’s a hero for moving to bigger horizons in Los Angelesor a traitor for leaving Cleveland， the disagreementsmostly bring them closer together. Mostly.

You see， any discussion of sports in America is alsolikely to trigger another dynamic. The number ofAmericans who identify as racially Black is a barelymore than 12 percent. By contrast， in the ranks ofprofessional basketball， Black players number morethan 80 percent. And since the number of sports fanswho identify with their star players is pretty close to"100 percent， the whole thing can become rather awkwardwhenever， say， White fans adapt the language orhabits of their Black players， or criticize those players’behavior. One exchange in King James turns dark overthe question of whether sports figures are beholden totheir team and local fan base， or if they’re free to charttheir own course. （The debate becomes all the moreheated because Joseph’s Black character， like LeBron，is planning to leave Cleveland for his own professionalopportunities on the West Coast.）

Over at the Met， however， Champion took its sportingexperience in a different direction entirely. One coulddraw a few parallels with King James ， not least becauseboth shows were developed in the Midwest before movingto the coasts. Champion first saw life in St. Louis（jointly commissioned by the Opera Theater of St. Louisand Jazz St. Louis） and received a second productionat San Francisco’s Opera Parallèle before traveling eastward;King James was developed at the Chicago-basedSteppenwolf Theatre， with a later run in Los Angeles，before coming to MTC. Some reviewers， in fact， felt theneed to explain details of other cities along with thecontext of their show’s respective sports.

Other than that， however， the shows were entirelydifferent both in scope and intent. King James ， havingonly two characters， fits into a theatrical form nearly asold as the theatre itself （only the classical Greek choruswith a single soloist is older）. So common are twocharacterplays （often called “two-handers”） that TennesseeWilliams actually entitled one of his works TheTwo-Character Play . It probably would’ve been moreinteresting if he’d kept the title and added a characteror two， rather like Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein’sopera Four Saints in Three Acts ， which is in four actswith at least six saints. But I digress.

Champion ， in contrast， not only had far more than"two characters but also more than two actors playingthe same person. As opposed to LeBron James， whosespirit was everywhere in King James while his actualpresence was not， Emile Griffith is portrayed not just inhis fighting prime but also at younger and older agesby a child treble and a deeper baritone （a musicaldramaticapproach Blanchard would use again in hissecond opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones ， which came tothe Met last season）.

While the musical input in King James was limitedto a DJ （who was not an actual character， despite beingcredited on the program’s title page）， Championused the full forces of an opera orchestra embellishedby a jazz ensemble. Billed not as a “jazz opera” butrather “an opera in jazz，” it did occasionally embracetrue operatic form—particularly solo moments of deepemotional depth and scenes with multiple singers simultaneouslyconveying different sentiments. But forthe most part， Champion unfolded as a glorious， raucouspageant. If the instrumental forces were smaller，and the vocalism a bit less operatically stylized， onecould easily imagine the show playing on Broadway.

I could go on about the differences， but ultimatelythose contrasts come down to keydivergences in both the sportsmenand the sport itself. LeBron， particularlyafter becoming the NBA’s alltimeleading scorer earlier this year，is so famous he doesn’t even haveto show up to be the center of attention.Emile， a quiet bisexual makerof women’s hats from the VirginIslands （to upturn just a couple ofpreconceptions most people probablyhave about professional boxing）had a good run professionally aswelterweight boxer after moving toNew York， but was haunted for the rest of his life afteressentially killing a man in the ring. He died in 2013， thesame year Champion had its world premiere， relativelyforgotten except to true obsessives of the sport.

Despite complaints about LeBron’s selfishness forleaving Cleveland， the prevailing counterpoint wasthat he left to be part of a bigger team. By the end ofthe play， his return to the Cavaliers brings together notonly the city’s residents in a downtown rally， but alsothe play’s central characters in a spontaneous game ofwastebasket one-on-one that becomes the play’s lastingmetaphor.

Griffith， for his part， embodies a sport that personifiesthe exact opposite of teamwork. Despite being surroundedby his coach， agent， wife and sexual partners—not to mention thousands of fans—Griffith’s task wassupremely lonely. Perhaps only bullfighting offers amore solitary confrontation in the ring. By the end ofthe opera， now mentally addled and haunted by his formerprofessional life， Griffith has to confront the ghostsof his past much as he did his opponents in his youth，when all he ultimately had to rely on in the ring washimself.