How did the 1993 Middle East peace talks come to be held secretly in a castle in the middle of a forest outside Oslo?
A darkly funny and sweeping new play, OSLO tells the surprising true story of the back-channel talks, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians. As he did with such wit and intelligence in Blood and Gifts, J.T. Rogers presents a deeply personal story set against a complex historical canvas: a story about the individuals behind world history and their all too human ambitions. Directed by Bartlett Sher.
Peacemaking isn't tranquil business. 'Oslo' reminds theatergoers of that as it imagines the secret and highly charged talks that led to a break in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict nearly 25 years ago. Smart, touching and spiked with spy-novel tension and wry humor, the drama at Lincoln Center is the latest work by J.T. Rogers. Two of his earlier plays dramatized struggles in Rwanda and Afghanistan. Now he trains a keen eye on the Middle East - and Scandinavia, where the 1993 Oslo Accord came together.
The approach to politics practiced in (and preached by) Oslo is so different from our current discourse that it might seems (sic) quaint if it weren't so persuasive. J.T. Rogers's account of 1993 meetings between Israelis and Palestinians, which led to the breakthrough Oslo Accords, is a testament to the potential value of diplomacy, cooperation, mutual recognition of opponents' humanity and-contra the now-trending WikiLeaks ethos-backroom secrecy. Arriving at those things was not easy even then: As Rogers lays out, in a narrative flush with historical detail, it took the ingenious private openness and public duplicity of a well-connected Norwegian couple, Terje Rød-Larsen (Jefferson Mays) and Mona Juul (Jennifer Ehle), to get the warring parties to the negotiating table-and, no less crucially, the dining table.
2016 | Off-Broadway |
Lincoln Center Theater Original Production Off-Broadway |
2017 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2017 | West End |
West End Transfer West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Michael Aronov |
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | J.T. Rogers |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jennifer Ehle |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jefferson Mays |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Oslo |
2017 | New York Drama Critics Circle Awards | Best Play | J.T. Rogers |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Michael Aronov |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | Oslo |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Projection Design (Play or Musical) | Benjamin Pearcy |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Bartlett Sher |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Donald Holder |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Michael Aronov |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Jefferson Mays |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Jennifer Ehle |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Play | J.T. Rogers |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Michael Yeargan |
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