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.
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.
Besides turning an historic event into high-brow entertainment, 'Oslo' is impressively even-handed. Both sides emerge proudly arrogant, yet desperate for peace. And while that peace didn't last, this excellent play offers hope that history can once again repeat itself.
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