Oslo Read online

  “J. T. Rogers combines the curious nature of a journalist with the erudition of a great playwright. Riveting and sprinkled with moments of great levity, the play yields details about the Oslo peace process that have never been disclosed in news articles or books or documentaries. It is edifying and entertaining, and it is an immensely valuable public service.”

  —RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN, AUTHOR OF IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY: INSIDE IRAQ’S GREEN ZONE

  “Little about history is scripted. People and ideas matter. Oslo captures what happened in the Middle East when committed people and creative ideas came together—and, in the end, what did not happen when inertia and violence intervened. Blessed—and frustrated—are the peacemakers in this informative, true-to-life, and above all gripping play.”

  —RICHARD N. HAASS, PRESIDENT, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

  “An absorbing drama . . . A streamlined time machine . . . Rogers has done a fine job of mapping the lively, confusing intersection where private personalities cross with public roles. The relationships that emerge from within and between the opposing camps are steeped in a poignant multifacetedness, as sworn enemies find themselves tentatively speaking the language of friendship. Their understanding and re-creation of the signature styles of allies and enemies make for unexpected moments of personal catharsis and illumination.”

  —NEW YORK TIMES

  “Oslo makes a complex historical event feel understandable, intimate and profoundly affecting. Darkly humorous comments permeate the tense conversations, arguments, impossible rifts, and grudging compromises that play out in swiftly paced scenes.”

  —ASSOCIATED PRESS

  “With Oslo, J. T. Rogers (who has made a specialty out of distilling politically fraught global conflict situations into briskly compelling, lucid stage narratives), has created a play alive with tension, intrigue, humor, bristling intelligence, and emotional peaks that are subdued yet intensely moving . . . a play that concludes unexpectedly on a poignant note of hope . . . Rogers’s drama artfully locates the human story in a delicate account of political diplomacy. This is a richly insightful play about culturally diverse people—Norwegians, Israelis, Palestinians—discovering deep-rooted shared desires and personal affinities.”

  —HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

  “Despite our knowing the outcome at the outset, Oslo barrels forward with the tension and suspense of an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Then, in the final moments of a story, which could be experienced as one of illusory success tumbling into failure, Rogers delivers an almost unbearably moving message of authentic, unsentimental optimism which feels like a gift. An extraordinary play.”

  —JOHN WEIDMAN, TONY AWARD–WINNING LIBRETTIST OF PACIFIC OVERTURES, ASSASSINS, AND CONTACT

  “One of the year’s best plays.”

  —NJ STAR-LEDGER

  “Oslo gives you a fly-on-the-wall peek into one of the historic negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. It is gripping, provocative, wrenching, funny and altogether riveting. In Oslo, J. T. Rogers shows the insane amount of wrangling and linguistic gymnastics involved in enacting real political change. In place of soaring speeches, we get secret walks and after-hours drinking sessions that blur the line between enemy and friend and, more importantly, begin to shed the cloak of hatred that has obscured the humanity on both sides.”

  —HUFFINGTON POST

  “Once there was a time when peace in the Middle East was tantalizing close. This is the stuff of the secret history of the region and a terrific new drama by J. T. Rogers. Oslo captures the willful ambiguities of the contentious Palestinian/Israeli relationship. Dramatic characters who in real-life crossed a forbidden political divide, then bonded as human beings despite personal risk. An improbable Norwegian couple brings these odd couples together. The rest is history. Part political thriller, part real-life drama. If you can’t watch it, read it, there are revelations in both.”

  —DEBORAH AMOS, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT, NPR

  “J. T. Rogers’s Oslo manages a seemingly impossible feat: It transforms three hours of talk about the Oslo Accords into a gripping and urgent entertainment.”

  —NJ.COM

  “The meticulous work behind the short-lived Accord leaves us even more hopeless about the world, but a bit more upbeat about the storytelling possibilities of the theater.”

  —NEWSDAY

  “A cunning observation on the intricacies and absurdities of both international diplomacy and human relationships, Oslo wonderfully illustrates the importance of finding common ground and discovering one another’s shared humanity. With a keen eye for cultural quirks and idiosyncrasies, J. T. Rogers is at his most funny and insightful when exploring the intersection between his characters’ private and public persona.”

  —TINA BROWN, FOUNDER OF THE DAILY BEAST AND WOMEN IN THE WORLD

  “Can we make peace with our enemies? Oslo gives us hope.”

  —NY DAILY NEWS

  Oslo is copyright © 2017 by J. T. Rogers

  Foreword is copyright © 2017 by André Bishop

  Introduction is copyright © 2017 by J. T. Rogers

  Oslo is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc.,

  520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018-4156

  All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty. All rights, including but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of readings and all uses of this book by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the author’s representative: John Buzzetti, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, 11 Madison Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10010, (212) 586-5100.

  The introduction, a version of the essay “Oslo and the Drama in Diplomacy” appeared in the New York Times on June 17, 2016.

  The publication of Oslo by J. T. Rogers, through TCG’s Book Program, is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

  TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution.

  Library of Congress Control Numbers:

  2017004920 (print) / 2017004897 (ebook)

  ISBN 978-1-55936-876-6 (ebook)

  A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

  Book design and composition by Lisa Govan

  Art design by SpotCo

  First Edition, April 2017

  For Bartlett Sher and André Bishop

  CONTENTS

  Foreword

  By André Bishop

  Introduction

  By the Author

  Oslo

  Acknowledgments

  FOREWORD

  Oslo was commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater, and it is a play that originated in a way that I wish more plays did, which is to say that it did not simply arrive by mail or email, and it did not appear on my desk as a hundred or so typed pages. It was a project that was developed with us from scratch.

  One of the few genuinely political American playwrights working today, J. T. Rogers has cultivated a close partnership with LCT Resident Director Bartlett Sher, b
eginning when they collaborated on Blood and Gifts, produced with much success during our 2011–2012 season. For their collaboration on Oslo, J. T. spent more than two years reading documents of the negotiations, visiting Norway, and interviewing participants in the peace talks—world leaders, secret service agents, diplomats—traveling all over Europe, the US, and the Middle East. After synthesizing all that he had learned, he made an imaginative leap by asking the question all writers do: What if? What if these disparate characters were put together in the same room?

  J. T. proceeded by skillfully assembling all the stories he had collected and corroborated, and then channeled his creative powers to provide answers to those “what ifs,” by writing his own original work. Oslo is not a documentary. Obviously, the people portrayed in the play have real-life counterparts, but the characters in Oslo, and the words they speak, are entirely the playwright’s. The author has described his play as “a scrupulously researched, meticulously written fiction.”

  Oslo profiles a group of colorful, intelligent men and women who come together under extremely fraught circumstances to try to achieve something that had never been attained before: a framework for an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. The play is often very funny and often very moving: Oslo’s aim is to show that the attempt to negotiate a peaceful coexistence between two mortal enemies is a painstaking yet noble pursuit. Despite the fact that the situation in the Middle East continues to be as volatile as ever, J. T. magnanimously ends his play on a note of infinite possibility for the future.

  We who produce new plays on a regular basis know what it is like to have an up-and-down artistic life. Some plays are hard to put on, and yet turn out well. Others can be bliss in the rehearsal room and don’t really work onstage. Oslo is rare: a play that was conceived for the right reason, written for the right reason, directed by the right person, and performed by a skillful, exuberantly gifted and trusting cast. Audiences who saw the play could intuit that onstage harmony, that sublime and beautiful collaboration between artists working at their peak. Let us not forget that the first run of the play occurred during the most vicious and grotesque presidential election process in American history. Audiences came to the theater looking for inspiration, for solace, for hope, and they found what they were looking for.

  —André Bishop

  Lincoln Center Theater, NY

  January 2017

  INTRODUCTION

  In early 2012, as my play Blood and Gifts was finishing its run at Lincoln Center Theater, my director, Bartlett Sher, arranged for me to have a drink with a friend of his. Terje Rød-Larsen was then a United Nations special envoy, focused on Lebanon. The two men and their families had become friends through their daughters, who attended middle school together. Bart had invited his friend to rehearsals of Blood and Gifts to talk to the cast about his work as a diplomatic negotiator in the Middle East. “I’ve asked him to meet with you,” Bart told me. “Ask him questions about everything he’s done. You’ll find it fascinating.”

  Late on a bitterly cold January night, we met for warm drinks at an Upper West Side haunt a few blocks from the theater. Mr. Larsen had just seen my play. He was vivacious and charming, draped in understated European finery—including dress shoes so elegant I filed the detail away under the mental heading “Interesting Character Trait.” Peppering him with questions, I learned that his wife, Mona Juul, was Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Norway Mission to the UN. Further, that they had both been deeply involved for years in the politics of the Middle East.

  “Twenty years ago, Mona and I were part of a historic event,” Mr. Larsen said. As we ordered our second round, I asked him to tell me more.

  As a playwright, I look to tell stories that are framed against great political rupture. I am obsessed with putting characters onstage who struggle with, and against, cascading world events—and who are changed forever through that struggle. While journalism sharpens our minds, the theater can expand our sense of what it means to be human. It is where we can come together in a communal space to hear ideas that grip us, surprise us—even infuriate us—as we learn of things we didn’t know. For me, that is a deeply, thrillingly, political act. I hunt perpetually for these kinds of stories. I look for them everywhere, but sometimes the story finds you.

  In that restaurant, Mr. Larsen explained that he and his wife were intimately involved with the making of the Oslo Accords. I knew of the first-ever peace deal between the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. I’ll never forget watching the signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden on television, on September 13, 1993, seeing President Clinton preside over that historic handshake between the bitterest of enemies, Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yasser Arafat, the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. I already knew the joy and the rage that handshake caused around the world.

  Then he told me something I did not know: that there was a clandestine diplomatic back channel that had made the Accords possible. That without a handful of men and women—Israeli, Palestinian, and Norwegian—working in secret to try to alter the political reality of two peoples, those Accords never would have happened. And when I heard that, I knew the writing of my next play had begun.

  I contacted Ms. Juul and asked if we could meet. She was surprised at my interest in these events, but eventually agreed to talk to me. In person she was charming as well, but far more reserved than her husband. She deftly steered the conversation away from her own career and achievements, graciously but firmly keeping herself from being the center of attention. “Yes, we were part of this back channel,” she confirmed. “But the story is not us. The story is about those in that channel who risked their lives to try and change the world.”

  I began a years-long process of reading, travel, and interviews with multiple participants as I sought to understand the full history of the secret channel—what came to be known as the Oslo Channel—through which the Accords were birthed. Everything that Mr. Larsen and Ms. Juul had told me turned out to be in the public record—but they had downplayed their own involvement. Throughout our conversations they had focused on the accomplishments of the Israelis and Palestinians who were involved, but Mr. Larsen and Ms. Juul were the ones who midwifed the entire process. And, like the agreements themselves, their involvement proved to be deeply controversial. There are those who saw the Oslo Channel as a necessary and bold attempt to bring peace to the Middle East; there are others who saw it as reckless, naive meddling that only added to the anguish in this region.

  The further I dug, the more gripped I became as a dramatist. Here was the stuff of theater—events that were almost preposterous in their strangeness: clandestine meetings, often run by those who had no experience with such things; people’s lives constantly put at risk; governments threatened with calamity; emotions rising and falling at an operatic scale; people pushed to the brink of what they thought possible as friendships were fused and torn apart.

  It became clear that Mr. Larsen and Ms. Juul would be characters at the very heart of the play. These were the sort of protagonists a writer looks for: two complicated, articulate people driven to achieve something far greater than themselves—people who stumble, make mistakes, but keep pushing on. As I researched, I drew a tight bracket around the historic events directly preceding and occurring during the time of the Channel’s existence. I burrowed into this sliver of history as deeply as I could, in order to summon a specific moment in time and place. Then I took the who, what, when, and where of journalism and threw them into a blender. I wanted to write a play, not a textbook or a reenactment. I sought to capture the spirit of those real events—their craziness, fear, joy, and heartbreak. I wanted to tell a story about men and women risking their own lives and challenging their own beliefs as they struggle without a road map toward peace.

  The historic events in Oslo are all true, but I have taken dramatic liberties. I have theatricalized and reinvented—all to focus my play on the r
adical act at the center of the actual Oslo Channel.

  In the middle of endless bloodshed and hatred, members of the Israeli Government and the PLO chose to sit across from their enemies and see them as human beings. Each side listened to the other and was permanently changed by that listening. I am awed by the personal and political courage that took. It is a moment of history that I do not want forgotten.

  —J. T. Rogers

  Hastings-on-Hudson, NY

  January 2017

  OSLO

  PRODUCTION HISTORY

  Oslo was commissioned and given its world premiere in New York City by Lincoln Center Theater (André Bishop, Producing Artistic Director; Adam Siegel, Managing Director; Hattie K. Jutagir, Executive Director of Development and Planning). Performances began June 16, 2016, in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. The production then transferred to Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, beginning performances on March 23, 2017. The director was Bartlett Sher; the sets were designed by Michael Yeargan, the costumes were designed by Catherine Zuber, the lighting was designed by Donald Holder, the sound was designed by Peter John Still, the projections were designed by 59 Productions; the stage manager was Cambra Overend. Throughout, the cast was as follows:

  JOHAN JORGEN HOLST

  T. Ryder Smith

  JAN EGELAND

  Daniel Jenkins

  MONA JUUL

  Jennifer Ehle

  TERJE RØD-LARSEN

  Jefferson Mays

  MARIANNE HEIBERG

  Henny Russell