A darkly funny political thriller, winner of the 2017 Tony Award for Best Play.
In 1993, in front of the world's press, the leaders of Israel and Palestine shook hands on the lawn of the White House. Few watching would have guessed that the negotiations leading up to this iconic moment started secretly in a grand manor house in the middle of a forest outside Oslo.
J.T. Rogers' play Oslo tells the true story of two maverick Norwegian diplomats who coordinated top-secret talks and inspired seemingly impossible friendships. Their quiet heroics helped lead to the groundbreaking Oslo Accords.
The play had a sell-out run in New York in 2016, and received its UK premiere at the National Theatre, London, in September 2017, prior to a West End transfer.
'A serious, and seriously good, play… when the interval came, I felt deprived, like you do when you are reading a great book and have to put it down even though all you want to do is to go on reading'
— The Times
'An extraordinary achievement, hands down the best new play of the season. Creating riveting drama out of the intransigence of implacable enemies is no modest trick, but darned if J.T. Rogers doesn't pull it off, and grandly... a dramatist of generous spirit writing with persuasive compassion about his characters'
— Washington Post
'A tremendous piece of theatre… witty, gripping, Shakespearean in scope… what is most heartening about it is the way it quietly celebrates the peacemakers and their resolute belief in a common humanity. At a moment when acts of violence are never long out of the news, this is timely and immensely moving'
— Financial Times
'A deft combination of research, fictional intuition and dramatic compression… watch, learn and marvel'
— Telegraph
'This weighty subject, full of labyrinthine complexity, is lucidly distilled by JT Rogers's dramatisation of events, turning the process of negotiation and diplomacy into a gripping drama … it is a rollercoaster, with moments of great hilarity switching suddenly to high tension, along with deeply moving reminders of the horrors and sadness behind the talks'
— BritishTheatre.com
'A proper political thriller… Rogers [has] a real eye for the human side of history... keeps the tension dead taut throughout'
— WhatsOnStage
'Rogers' scrupulously researched work has a remarkable lightness of touch. It's witty, nimble and full of pleasing detail… works both as a piece of documentary theatre, unpacking a historical moment, and – in a time of what feels like increasing social division – a valuable reminder of just what can be achieved if people are wiling to put aside their own agendas and work towards a common good'
— The Stage
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play
Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play
Tony Award for Best Play
Author Biography:
J. T. Rogers is an American playwright whose work includes Oslo (Lincoln Center Theater, NYC, 2016; National Theatre, London, 2017); Blood and Gifts (National Theatre; Lincoln Center Theater); The Overwhelming (National Theatre, followed by UK tour with Out of Joint; Roundabout Theatre, NYC); White People (Off-Broadway with Starry Night Entertainment) and Madagascar (Theatre503, London; Melbourne Theatre Company). He is a co-author of the Olivier Award-nominated The Great Game: Afghanistan (Tricycle Theatre). His works have been staged throughout the United States, and in Germany, Canada, Australia, and Israel.
For Oslo he won the Tony, New York Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Drama League, Lortel, and Obie awards. Rogers's essays have appeared in the New York Times, in London's Independent and the New Statesman, and in American Theatre. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and the Pinter Review Prize for Drama. Rogers serves on the board of the Dramatist Guild's Dramatists Legal Defense Fund. He is an alum of New Dramatists and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
