… at the gates of war …
No conflicts seem more stubbornly unsolvable in modern politics and history than the hostilities between Israelis and Arabs. How fascinating that there were, in fact, secret negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, enabled by idealistic, peace-seeking Norwegians, that resulted in a signed agreement in 1993, the first of the Oslo accords. Oslo tells the that story in such a way that the audience is caught up in the suspense of high stakes history.
We learn early on about two Israeli academics whose research demonstrates that peace between the Israeli and Palestinians wouldn’t just mitigate violence but would benefit both sides economically. With these studies as a starting point, Norwegians in their country’s foreign service, convinced that giving representatives of the opposing sides the opportunity to know one another personally will enable cooperation, invite representatives of the Israeli government and the PLO to meet secretly in Oslo.
The Norwegians provide a place for talks and human comforts, good drink and food — Norwegian pancakes play a large role in drawing together these diplomatic representatives on a personal, and progressively warmer level. The diplomats become friends while not “giving in” to one another’s political demands. There’s give and take: they make some compromises but hold their ground on the non-negotiable issues.
As progress toward an agreement is made, diplomats at even higher levels arrive to hammer out the make-or-break details. The Americans become involved toward the end and – it’s history — the signing of the Oslo Accord took place in September 1993, with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signing for Israel and Yasir Arafat signing for the PLO, the “first-ever peace deal between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization,” as the playwright writes in his program Note. In a famous photograph, dramatized in this play, Rabin and Arafat shake hands in the Rose Garden of the White House, in the presence of President Bill Clinton.
Knowing the satisfactory, even thrilling ending — which tragically dissipated later, but that’s another part of history — makes all the more interesting the ins-and-outs and progress and setbacks of the negotiations, through which, ultimately, the PLO agreed to recognize Israel’s right to exist and Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinians.
The characters, in representing historical figures, sometime seem like mouthpieces for their points of view rather than coming to life in their own terms. Two actors, Anthony Azizi as the dominant PLO representative and Michal Aronov for the Israelis, bring charisma and an enlivening free-wheeling body language to their roles which go far to keep the play from seeming too talky-talky.
The two Norwegians most involved in the success of the negotiations are the most fully drawn as characters but, in terms of what the play’s about, they’re peripheral, so their emotional journeys don’t strengthen the sense of human drama as much as if they were more central. Oslo is occasionally engaging emotionally, but it’s always interesting as the ideas and interplay, underlined by the life and death importance of a good solution, keep our minds engaged. You have the sense throughout of learning something you really want to know, and of being glad the author has made that a stimulating event.
Oslo plays at the Vivian Beaumont theater in Manhattan’s Lincoln Center through June 18, 2017. For more information and tickets, click here.
I am sorry that I did not get a chance to see this in NYC. Hopefully, it will be done here in Philadelphia. Americans often forget the impact that Scandinavian countries have had in world politics and events. It may be a case where if countries do not make too many ripples, we tend to forget about them. There are players in front of and behind the scenes that are not necessarily the large powers. We need to take a global look at all our neighbors, especially now that our world has gotten so dramatically smaller with high tech communication.… Read more »
I like YOUR blog concept — would welcome more!
Thanks for the link to the photo of the three leaders. The play’s a dramatic history lesson. One thing I felt was missing was, what was happening behind the closed doors where the negotiators kept disappearing for discussions? I guess that was part of the play, to not let us know what happened behind closed doors, but it would’ve been interesting to see those interactions and arguments.
for those who hope for world peace one day, this play and even this discussion are quite useful. Art Institute in Chicago will be opening an exhibit September 9, 2017 featuring film of a discussion of thirty participants who will gather for three days in May to see what happens when strangers with a range of economic, religious, age, and sexual identities come together. will they argue and fight? will they be able to hear each other? the artist hopes to explore and elucidate divisions that exist in contemporary society, alongside attempts to collaborate.
Yes, they’ll hear each other — as in Oslo. But then …