TimeLine Theatre pulling out all the stops for ‘Oslo’

To mount the show, which dramatizes the clandestine back-channel diplomacy that led to the historic 1993 Israeli-Palestinian Oslo peace accord, TimeLine is working with quadruple its normal budget and has swapped its Lake View storefront for the 550-seat Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.

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Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul (Bri Sudia) and her socialscientist husband Terje Rød-Larsen (Scott Parkinson) hatch an intricate, top-secret scheme to help bring about the 1993 Oslo Accords in TimeLine Theatre’s production of “Oslo.”

Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul (Bri Sudia) and her socialscientist husband Terje Rød-Larsen (Scott Parkinson) hatch an intricate, top-secret scheme to help bring about the 1993 Oslo Accords in TimeLine Theatre’s production of “Oslo.”

Joe Mazza / brave lux, inc.

The stakes are high for TimeLine Theatre’s Chicago premiere of “Oslo,” J.T. Rogers’ 2017 Tony Award-winner for best play, in previews starting Sept. 10 at the Broadway Playhouse.

To mount the show, which dramatizes the clandestine back-channel diplomacy that led to the historic 1993 Israeli-Palestinian Oslo peace accord, TimeLine is working with quadruple its normal budget and has swapped its Lake View storefront for the 550-seat Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.

“We’re putting a lot of chips on a really good hand,” said director Nick Bowling. “It’s such an enormous play and we’re doing it in the biggest way.”

‘OSLO’

‘Oslo’

When: Sept. 18- Oct. 20

Where: TimeLine Theatre at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut

Tickets: $30-$75

Info: timelinetheatre.com


Though a national touring company or one of the city’s larger, high-profile institutions may have seemed a more logical destination for the Chicago premiere of a play with “Oslo”’s pedigree, it was Rogers relationship with Bowling and TimeLine’s artistic director PJ Powers that helped tip the scales in favor of the comparatively small theater.

“Oslo” marks the second collaboration between TimeLine and Rogers, with Bowling having earned a Jeff Award nomination for his previous direction of the playwright’s “Blood and Gifts.”

“When J.T. wrote [“Oslo”], he sent a note to PJ saying, ‘This is a love letter to TimeLine’s mission,’” Bowling recalled.

That mission — “To present stories inspired by history that connect with today’s social and political issues” — is a perfect match for Rogers’ political thriller, which had critics exhausting their supply of superlatives during “Oslo”’s inaugural Broadway run.

The story, a fictionalized version of real events, centers on Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul and her husband Terje Rød-Larsen, a social scientist. The two improbably conceived of and orchestrated a plan to bring together representatives from Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization for a series of meetings, held in secret near the Norwegian capital of Oslo.

The couple’s bold idea: Provide a space for enemies to relate to one another as human beings, not nameless, faceless foes. 

In a different writer’s hands, such complicated and weighty subject matter could come across as didactic, more history lesson than an entertaining evening of theater. But Rogers’ script sings.

Bowling compared the playwright’s style to both Aaron Sorkin and Noel Coward: the former for the snappy way he disseminates large chunks of information, the latter for his intelligent yet bawdy wit.

“The play really embraces its humor,” said Bowling. “Jokes become a way to break tension and for characters to connect and to drop their guard.”

As he steered the production through rehearsals, Bowling came to empathize, on something of a meta level, with the delicate tightrope walked by his characters.

“I feel like [Terje Rød]-Larsen, like the middle person,” Bowling said of his role as director. “I’m the man helping coordinate, making sure everyone feels comfortable and able to do their best work.”

The audience will find much to identify with, as well.

While the events of 1993 may seem like ancient history in today’s fast-paced culture — “As we’ve been working on it, we’ve said, ‘Oh god, what a cellphone would have done,’” Bowling said — the underlying message of “Oslo” is more timely than ever in light of increasing political polarization in the U.S.

“Oslo” poses the question “How do I find some middle ground with my enemy?” Bowling said. “Ultimately it’s [a play] about peace. J.T. has written a beautiful, thoughtful journey toward peace. That’s what we should be working toward.”

Patty Wetli is a local freelance writer.

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