Broadway,
Off-Broadway Theater Review: Oslo
Update:
This play by J.T. Rogers has transferred to Broadway at the
Vivian Beaumont Theater and has received Outer Critics and Drama Desk
nominations.
Below is the review for the Off-Broadway production, also at
Lincoln Center. The play seems at home in its larger space. It's still a bit
too long in my opinion, but the ensemble is so good it's hard to lose interest.
The topic is at once fascinating -- most everybody in the audience is unaware
of these behind-the-scene negotiations that were the catalyst for the Oslo
Peace Accords -- and relevant. In times when hatred makes it impossible to have
civil discourse on just about any subject, the idea that people who have been
enemies for thousands of years could sit down and talk as friends is
refreshing.
-- Lauren Yarger
Information for the Broadway production at the Vivian Beaumont
Theater, 150 West 65th St., NYC:
Oslo tells the true, but
until now, untold story of how one young couple, Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul
(Jennifer Ehle) and her husband social scientist Terje Rød-Larsen (Jefferson
Mays), planned and orchestrated top-secret, high-level meetings between the
State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which culminated in
the signing of the historic 1993 Oslo Accords. The original Off-Broadway
cast of OSLO returns: Joining Ehle and Mays are Michael Aronov, Anthony Azizi,
Adam Dannheisser, Daniel Jenkins, Dariush Kashani, Jeb Kreager, Christopher McHale,
Daniel Oreskes, Angela Pierce, Henny Russell, Joseph Siravo, T. Ryder Smith,
Stephen Schnetzer.
Sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by
Donald Holder, sound by Peter John Still and Marc Salzberg, and projections by
59 Productions.
Performances are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday at 7 pm; Wednesday and
Saturday at 8 pm; Wednesday and Saturday at 2 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. lct.org
OFF-Broadway Review:
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the
Oslo Peace Accords
By Lauren Yarger
Don’t let what sounds like a boring premise – the 1993 Oslo
Peace Accords – or the three-hour run time scare you away from Oslo the new J.T. Rogers play getting an
Off-Broadway run at Lincoln Center.
Despite the fact that it could use a substantial edit (unless
your name is Eugene O’Neill or Tracy Letts, your play doesn’t need three acts
or two intermissions), this story of how the leaders of Israel and the
Palestine Liberation Army ended up shaking hands on the White House lawn is
engrossing and entertaining.
Bartlett Sher directs the large ensemble and keeps us from
getting confused, even though there is some doubling in the mostly male cast.
The truth is there was a huge cast of characters behind the scenes of the
historic peace agreement and while President Bill Clinton probably enjoyed
getting a lot of the credit, truth is the accords were thanks to a lot of
secret meetings and negotiations headed up by a husband and wife in Oslo,
Norway.
Mona Juul (an
excellent Jennifer Ehle) is a well respected official in the
Norwegian foreign ministry and reports to Jan Egland, the deputy foreign
minister. She and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen (Jefferson Mays), the director
of Fafo Institute for the Applied Sciences, realize they might have come up
with a way for the two sides to begin talks. It will be tricky – it is illegal
for Israeli government officials to meet with members of the PLO and Foreign
Minister Johan Jorgen Holst (T. Ryder Smith) is vehemently opposed to the idea.
But if they can just find a way to get the right people together in an
unofficial way, they might get the ball rolling….
Enter Ron Pundak (Daniel Jenkins), a junior economics
professor at the University of Haifa who is able to make initial contact. The
negotiations begin with some lower ranking officials at the Borregaard Estate
outside of Oslo, where Mona and Terje acts as hosts and the housekeeper and
cook (Henny Russell) keeps everyone happy with waffles (Rogers interlaces a lot
of humor in the script to balance the complexity of the dialogue).
Soon, negotiations are going so well that the big players are
brought in for both sides. Hassan Asfour (Dariush Kashani), the official PLO
Liaison at the US talks which are going absolutely nowhere; Ahmed Qurie
(Anthony Azizi), the PLO’s finance minister; Uri Savir (Michael Aronov),
director general of the Foreign Ministry; Yossi Beilin (Adam Dannheisser),
deputy foreign minister; and Shimon Peres, foreign minister, hash out the
differences between their nations and the steps toward peace. All the
negotiations take place behind closed doors, but they break, out in the parlor
with Toril’s waffles, they become friends, sharing jokes and telling stories
about their families.
Things get tense when Terje oversteps his authority and
begins acting as a negotiator, making promises and telling lies to keep the
negotiations moving forward, but which in reality, could bring the whole
process to a grinding halt.
The action takes us through about nine months and to various
locations, all on one set designed by Michael Yeargan with cushioned benches
circling the stage area on the floor. An architectural embellishment over the
door at the rear where the men venture for their discussions is a reminder of
the grand house they are in and of the importance of the negotiations taking
place. The parlor room becomes like a family room as the friendships develop
even while personalities clash.
The three-hours certainly could be reduced – perhaps by about
45 minutes (especially if that second intermission could be eliminated). While
this usually would signify a weak play to me, that is not the case here. All
the action and information as written is interesting, well written and
directed. There’s simply too much material and as a result people were nodding
off and missing a pretty decent play. Take a nap first (or opt for a matinee
instead of an 8 pm curtain time) and go. You’ll see the Oslo Accords in a whole
new light.
Oslo plays through Aug. 28 at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse
Theatre, 150 West 65th St.,
NYC. Performances are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 pm; Wednesday,
Friday, Saturday at 8 pm; Wednesdays and Saturday at 2 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets $107: lct.org/shows/Oslo; 866-811-4111
Full cast:
Jennifer Ehle…. Mona Juul
Jefferson Mays…. Terje Rød-Larsen
Michael Aronov…. Uri Savir
Anthony Azizi…. Ahmed Querie (Abua Ala)
Adam Dannheisser…. Yossi Berlin
Daniel Jenkins…. Jan Egelnd
Dariush Kashani…. Hassan Asfour
Jeb Kreager…. Trond Gundersen, German husband
Christopher McHale…. Thor Bjornevog, German diplomat
Daniel Oreskes…. Shimon Peres, Yair Hirschfeld
Angela Pierce…. German wife
Henny Russell…. Toril Grandal, Marianne Heiberg, Swedish
hostess
Joseph Siravo…. Joel Singer
FAMILY-FRIENDLY FACTORS:
-- God's name taken in vain
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