Most of us seldom think any more of the Oslo Peace Accords, even if we’re the sort of people who really keep up with world events. The results of those talks have been...well, modest compared to what many people had hoped for. Nevertheless, it was a momentous thing for the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization to officially acknowledge the other’s existence and enter into formal agreements.
That all sounds very distant from what works in a play. But how the accord came to be is a fascinating and very human story about how individuals can make a difference in the world. A Norwegian couple, he a researcher and she a civil servant, thought perhaps there might be a way to get Israel and the Palestinians talking to each other if it were out of the public eye and done by people who weren’t public officials. The play Oslo, the Tony winner for Best Play in 2017, is an adapted version, written by J.T. Rogers, of what happened. (Here’s a link to how it went in real life.) Directed by retiring artistic director Steve Woolf, it’s just opened at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.
We meet Terje Rod-Larsen (Jim Poulos) and his wife Mona Juul (Kathleen Wise). They tell her boss, Johan Jorgen Holst (Jonathan Gillard Daly), who’s the minister of foreign affairs for Norway, and his wife Marianne Heiberg (Michelle Hand), and discussions begin about how to do this.
The talks begin with two Israelis, Yair Hirschfeld (John Rensenhouse) and Ron Pundak (Michael James Reed), interacting to two Palestinians, Ahmed Qaurie (Rajesh Bose) and Jassan Asfour). This proves to be a wonderful tag team match. Over the course of the play, watching them spar and carouse is almost as much of a high point as the message of the drama, which is that sometimes you have to try the impossible. As the world knows, the talks progressed and a formal signing was held at the White House in September of 1993, but even at that point, there was posturing going on. Bill Clinton tells of worrying about handshakes between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat and what to do if Arafat leaned forward to kiss Rabin, the traditional Arab greeting, at the signing of the Oslo Accord that day. A number of people here play multiple roles, often to the point where they’re hard to recognize.
It’s a fascinating play, well written and surprisingly funny. There are even food jokes. The hostess at the estate where the talks begin has planned a nice dinner with the main course roast pork. And do not be surprised at the appearance of waffles, vafler. Waffles are very Norwegian. The Norway bureau of the Pollacks remind me they’re not a breakfast food, they’re a snack. I’ve seen them offered – waffle iron, pitcher of batter, tub of sour cream and some jam – in a hotel bar in dark late afternoons in December. Parents’ clubs sell waffles to raise money at football games and such. So when the waffles come out, you know this is all the real thing.
Michael Ganio’s scenic design works really well, with fine use of Nathan W. Scheuer’s projections. I muttered for a while about Dorothy Marshall Englis’ choice to use ties on all the Israeli government officials, but by this period in time, except for highly formal occasions, at least half the members of the Knesset appear to have worn them, a change from the original tradition.
A very successful show, with fine acting and a good story line. It’s sad that things have not gone as well as they hoped, but that’s another point of the whole thing. To use Jesse Jackson’s trademark phrase, keep hope alive, keep hope alive.
Oslo
through March 3
Repertory Theatre St. Louis
Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts
130 Edgar Rd., Webster Groves
Comments