“OSLO”

Highly Recommended ***** Timeline Theatre Company has been bringing quality theater to Chicago for over 20 years. Their mission has always been “to bring stories that are inspired by history that connect to today’s social and political issues.” They are currently bringing us the Chicago premiere of  J.T.Rogers Tony Award winning “Oslo”. For this production, they have  ” partnered” with Broadway In Chicago and are on the stage at The Broadway In Chicago Playhouse. We have a number of “firsts” with this production, and perhaps, in the future, we will see more of this. Many tourists and Michigan Avenue shoppers, who are exposed to Lookingglass Theatre, just down the street, will now learn of the solid work that Timeline has been bringing Chicago for over 22 years!

The story told in “Oslo” is that back story to a very special event that took place in 1993. On that occasion, the prime minister of Israel and the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization shook hands on the White House Lawn. It was indeed a very special day, but how did this come to be? There had to be a back story to such an event taking place. “Oslo” tells that story!

Behind the scenes, a Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul ( an incredible performance by Bri Sudia) and her husband, Terje Rod-Larsen ( another solid performance by Chicago favorite Scott Parkinson) launch a top-secret scheme to bring peace between these men.  What we see is an incredible series of events, filled with comedic moments as well as ones where war might be in the offing, that lead us to an incredible 2 1/2 hours of great entertainment ( and education). While the play is longer than most we see, it is so powerful in content and story telling that it does not seem to be. The pace is terrific!

Directed to perfection by Nick Bowling on a wonderful set (Jeffrey D. Kmiec) with amazing visuals ( projections by Mike Tutaj) and great sound/music (Andre Pluess) this is as stunning to watch as one can hope for. The other tech aspects are also up to Timeline’s usual perfection: Katie Cordts ( wigs and hair), Amy Peter ( props), Jesse Klug (lighting), Christine Pascual (costumes) and Eva Breeman (dialects).

The story is one of pure dynamics. A story that one might want to call “the rest of the story” and to pull this off, Bowling has assembled a cast that is powerful . A cast that makes you want to be that “fly on the wall” listening in on what might have been the actual words spoken. The characters we see on the stage are in fact real people, many of whom we read about in the papers and saw on the news during these troubled times in the Middle East. In addition to Sudia and Parkinson, we have Bernard Balbot, Jed Feder ( a marvelous Uri Savir ), Anish Jethmalani ( a powerful Ahmed Qurie), Ron E. Rains (  who brings two important characters to the stage- Yair Hirschfeld and Shimon Peres), Stef Tovar ( a strong Yossi Beilin, who may be the power behind the event taking place), Amro Salama as Hassan Asfour, Bassam Abdelfattah, Julkiet Hart, Tom Hickey ( as Joel Singer, an attorney that did the final paperwork), Victor Holstein and David Parkes.

It is the strength of Feder and Jethmalani along with their cohorts that allows us to see the feelings of both sides. We learn of their fears and desires to live in peace without fear of attack by the other. This is a remarkable story that shows how putting people in a room can work to bring unimagined results. Anyone who has ever attended a Timeline production knows that on Wellington, they have an area where the actual historical facts of the story are on display. Michigan Avenue and The Broadway In Chicago Playhouse are no different, but since they do not have the area, they are using the pillars to do the job and it is quite effective.Rogers has taken the facts of the matter and has taken some liberties with them to make this a theatrical quality story. I believe the term is “poetic license” and he does so with wit. This should be on your MUST SEE list.

“Oslo” will continue at The Broadway In Chicago Playhouse located 175 East Chestnut ( Water Tower Place) thru October 20th with performances as follows:

Tuesdays  7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays  2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (no matinée on the 25th)

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Sundays  2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. ( no evening on October, 6th,13th and 20th)

Tickets range from $35-$95 and can be purchased at the box office or any of the Broadway In Chicago box offices, by calling 1-800-775-2000 or by visiting www.BroadwayInChicago.com

A digital lottery offering $25 tickets (12 per day) is open each day at https://broadwayinchicago.com/show/oslo

Parking in Water Tower Place is discounted and public transportation will make it easy

To see what others are saying, visit http://www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Oslo”.