As part of its ongoing commitment
to perform new works, Opera Theater of St. Louis this year commissioned and
then presented a two act version of the opera “An American Soldier.” The music, composed by Huang Ruo to a
libretto by the well-known playwright David Henry Hwang (of “M. Butterfly”
fame) tells the true story of a 19 year old Chinese-American man who enlists in
the Army after high school because he wants to be an American! He wants to be
seen as an American and he thinks this is the way to become a real
American. Despite opposition from family
and friends and driven by this desire to be completely American (and the Army
represents this to him) he enlists.
Initially things go well. Basic
training is a positive experience for him, but once he is stationed first in
Fairbanks, Alaska and then shipped off to Kandahar in Afghanistan things go
from bad to worse. And the issue is racism – bitter, intense racism. Despite
his attempts to get along and do his job he is tormented and miserably abused
to the point where he finally can no longer stand it and he commits
suicide. His commanding officer is
court-martialed (Sgt. Markum is actually a composite of multiple officers who
were court-martialed in 2012). Various witnesses then spin out the story of
what happened to Danny over the two acts through flashbacks and short solo
testimonies. It is a chilling story of
intense racial abuse (which includes horrible physical abuse) and touches on a
variety of parallel issues (like the sexual assault of women in uniform!) And
the opera raises a series of difficult questions – such as - who ever thought
that having “racial Thursdays” was a good idea (at the base in Fairbanks, for
the “good of morale” soldiers were encouraged to insult each other with the
most heinous racial slurs they can think of)? Why is there little to no
accountability for officers in the field who can behave in any way they want,
abusing whoever they want? Why is it that men like Sgt. Marcum feel like the
only way they can assert themselves is to put others down? Why do so many white men like Marcum feel so
threatened? Why do women and men who are assaulted find that any attempt to
bring their abusers to justice is met by a thick brick wall?
The other important aspect of the
story is the relationship between Danny (performed brilliantly by tenor Andrew
Stenson) and his mother (beautifully portrayed by mezzo Mika Shigematsu). Into this story was also included a
girlfriend Josephine (also beautifully performed by the great internationally
acclaimed coloratura soprano Kathleen Kim). Mother Chen’s struggles were an
important part of the story. She cannot understand her son’s intense desire to
become Americanized by becoming a soldier.
Initially she and Josephine cannot understand why Danny would choose to
turn his back on a full college scholarship in order to enlist? The women simply
cannot grasp the importance for young men to feel included and Danny feels
separate. He feels less than whole. Growing up in Chinatown where he can speak
Chinese but cannot write it he feels neither Chinese nor American and he
desperately wants to belong. But
ultimately her struggle to understand her son gives way to another struggle:
the struggle for justice. She demands justice for her son but finds that she is
up against an institution that is unsympathetic. The heart of this tragic story is found here
and I found it deeply moving and upsetting.
Given all that transpires the
great final chorus - E Pluribus Unum –
Out of the Many, One! – is less a celebration and more a reminder of how
far we have missed the mark and failed. These
words that move the opera to its conclusion are sung as a final choral ensemble
and interspersed with a commentary by the Military Judge (the excellent bass
Nathan Stark). This nameless judge whose only identification is as the highest
ranking officer in the opera – a Colonel – he presides over the court-martial
trial that forms the frame of this work.
We are reminded at the outset of this choral ensemble that President
Harry Truman had banned any kind of racial discrimination within the armed
forces and that for a time the US Armed forces were somewhat of a model for the
country, but this is no longer the case.
Nevertheless the judge reminds us that as a people as Americans are “White
or Black, Asian, Native or Sikh, Christian, Jewish or Muslim, LGBT” It doesn’t
matter. We are all Americans and it is
in this tapestry of diversity where the potential greatness of America is to be
found. Whenever we approach greatness as a nation it is directly because of our
diversity, but we mostly fail because of our fear of the other, our desire for
power and wealth that overwhelms our ability to reach out of ourselves and
embrace others. This fear then gives way to hatred – irrational hatred that
cuts us off from one another and eats away at the foundation of the nation. The
motto of the United States – E Pluribus
Unum - points us towards all of this as it also strikes at the heart of
this country’s original sin – racism! Ugly, bitter racism bred by fear and hate
has always threatened the future of this nation and it will continue to do so. Whatever
strength America has will lie in bringing all of the diverse threads of this
nation into a whole and those who work against this are working to weaken and
destroy. The words of the motto of the
United States additionally indict the current political leadership beginning at
the top and including all those who enable this travesty to continue. This
administration seems to be bent on destroying everything that this nation
stands for. It coddles dictators and white supremacists, it arrests immigrants
and in a disgusting and evil twist rips children from their parents and throws
resources into a idiotic wall which it thinks will do – what? – keep out
immigrants I suppose. But it won’t. All it will do is to further weaken and
divide the nation and make us even more a pariah on the world stage.
And even though it is not a part of
the opera, I have to bring up one of the most insidious dimensions of all of
this and that is the Evangelical Christian dimension. It is appalling that so
many so-called “Christian” leaders and “Christians” continue to baptize hate
and exclusion as being somehow reflective of faith in the one who loved all and
calls on all to be open to all. But this isn’t new – “Christians” devised
“Manifest Destiny” from the Bible to justify the slaughter of Native peoples
and defended the institution of slavery by extracting individual verses from
the bible. This is called proof-texting and it works particularly well when you
adopt a literalist way of looking at the bible. For with literalism the context
doesn’t matter – what went before or comes after doesn’t matter – who Jesus was
and what Jesus stands for doesn’t matter – all that matters is extracting the
right collection of words from a bible verse in order to pummel an opponent and
defend ones hate and racism and homophobia and transphobia and on and on. But literalism is unfaithful, literalism is
evil and is in fact a denial of scripture.
Context enables us to understand exactly what the scripture says and in
this case it is pretty clear (with any number of rather explicit verses
available as well) – racism is evil; hate is evil! We who claim to be
Christians are called to love and love includes standing up and defending those
who need defending. Love also demands
that we hold our leaders accountable. The progressive rotting of the fabric of
this nation will continue until we can find a way to embrace our diversity. If
America is ever to be great this is what will make America great = embracing
diversity!
There is another issue that struck
me profoundly by this performance and is related to the behavior of the
audience. I have found it curious that predominately white audiences seem to
have a tendency to cheer those perceived to be good guys and to boo those
perceived to be the villains. No “gray” area here – it is either one or the
other – good or bad! And it happens all the time. Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly”
is a perfect example. Invariably no matter where the opera is performed in the
United States the white American character – Lt. B.F. Pinkerton - is always
booed by the white American audiences. Why? The way he treats Butterfly? His
attitudes towards others who are different than he is perhaps? But these
attitudes are shared by the Consul, Sharpless, by the way and he is never booed.
These attitudes were also the collective philosophy of the nation in the late
19th century and we are complicit in them since we have benefited
from them. So, what is the point? Are we
attempting to assuage our own collective guilt by painting Pinkerton as “the
bad guy” and booing him. Does it make us
feel superior to be able to identify, briefly at least with the abandoned
Japanese woman who we just watched commit suicide on stage?
At the performance of “An American
Soldier” I found the booing of Wayne Tigges (who plays Sgt. Marcum) absolutely appalling.
Who do they think they are booing?
Marcum? First of all, the point
of curtain calls is that we finally get to meet and express our appreciation to
the performers and artists, not the characters. It was not Sgt. Marcum who came
out for a bow, it was Wayne Tigges who brilliantly performed this difficult
role and was able to convey a variety of different dimensions of this complex
character. But even more important is
that we must see that Sgt. Marcum is us! He is especially us white folks who
think we are better than everyone else, who glory in our white privilege and
feel threatened and fearful by those who are other. To boo this character is a pathetic attempt
to distance ourselves from this reality.
But you can boo all you want because the reality remains – we are all
Sgt. Marcum and the sooner we recognize this and begin to address it the better
it will be for us as a people!
Opera Theater of St. Louis has
again presented a new work that is not only timely but in every way deeply
moving and profoundly challenging. I was so affected by the performance last
night I could not sleep. All of us need to take this message to heart – it is,
after all, the motto of our nation: E
Pluribus Unum. In that little phrase
is contained all that is necessary to “make American great…” – I won’t use the
word “again” because it is irrelevant. American’s greatness, such as it is, has
always been found in its diversity. And if America is ever to achieve any taste
of greatness it will be because we find a way to embrace this gift of
diversity.
(Feel free to
comment. But please note that I will not
tolerate hate speech and such comments will be swiftly deleted!)
For more information about the remaining performances and for photos of the performance go to:
https://www.opera-stl.org/season-and-events/productions/an-american-soldier-2018
For more information about the remaining performances and for photos of the performance go to:
https://www.opera-stl.org/season-and-events/productions/an-american-soldier-2018
