Oslo (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (818)
See it if you want to experience a magnificent, yet subtle tale of astonishing history and humanity. It stunned, warmed, and terrified me throughout!
Don't see it if you want fluff, you don't want a challenge, you never believe that less is more.
See it if Riveting true account of secret Palestine/Israeli peace negotiations in 1993. The acting is masterful & really makes this story come alive.
Don't see it if The play is 3 hours long; I thought I might struggle w/the wordiness & political subject matter, but instead was absolutely riveted. Bravo! Read more
See it if you enjoy a political drama told in very human and emotional terms. What could have been boring is riveting, even suspenseful.
Don't see it if you don't want to use your intellect, don't like political theatre, don't like large casts and epic themes.
See it if You're a fan of political and social drama. This is a hard hitting and often funny play about the most unlikely collaboration in history.
Don't see it if You want a musical, or if thick accents and political intrigue annoy you. This play will affect most everyone. It's a vital play to see.
See it if you want amazing acting in a powerful story where people move past fear and hate to embrace hope, humanity and change.
Don't see it if you find subject matter too sensitive.
See it if You want to see a brilliantly acted, engrossing historical drama with a side of humor.
Don't see it if You are looking for a short play (it is three hours) or a show in Times Square (it is twenty streets uptown in Lincoln Center).
See it if You want a stimulating, absorbing, evening at the theater. With ideas and issues that concern mankind. If the idea of peace interests you.
Don't see it if You're looking for an entertainment that requires minimal mental work on your part. Or you want a love story, or family drama.
See it if you like serious drama in a great production.
Don't see it if do not like cerebral intense political dramas.
Critic Reviews (74)
“The clarity of this new play by J.T. Rogers does not only rely on the smart yet surefire way it's written, but also on the masterful staging by Bartlett Sher, who, after recent productions of both ‘South Pacific’ and ‘The King and I,’ is no stranger to directing gargantuan shows at Lincoln Center. Given its subject--the Oslo Accord or peace treaty between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (P.L.O.) in 1993--’Oslo’ is ultimately an enormous play, but it is told in intimate terms.”
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“J. T. Rogers’ riveting historical drama feels right where it belongs–on a world stage. Risk taking is what this thrilling story is all about…The mesmerizing plot involves 21 characters, multiple locales, and a complex political context–packed into three intense hours of stage time…Now, in the majestic Beaumont, the play has expanded in breadth, scope, and impact–gaining the stature that the story justly deserves.”
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"Rogers gives us a frame for the play: Can gradualism succeed where traditional negotiations have demonstrably failed? As in Frayn’s 'Copenhagen,' the pursuit of the big idea, however worthy, can get tiresome, if not relieved by credible characters, witty exchanges, deft direction, and fine performances. 'Oslo' offers all of that...Mays manages to give Terje a credible enthusiasm for the task at hand as well as a humanizing vulnerability."
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"A magnificent new play...The information flies at us rapidly but, as written by the astonishing J. T. Rogers, we follow every detail and every introduction. Meticulously constructed...What an amazing act of tightrope walking we are witness to as directed with the utmost skill and intelligence by Bartlett Sher...I didn’t know peace accords could be so thrilling, so much so that I found myself tearing up at moments when the future of the accord looked dark and foreboding."
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"A fascinating if talky play…The three-hour running time went by relatively swiftly for me. The creative team invests the principal characters with personalities…It helps that the adversaries are played so credibly…'Oslo' gives us not only a lucid refresher course on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and provides us entertainment that is both surprisingly funny and suspenseful. It also leaves us with a sense that maybe even the world’s most unsettling situations can someday be settled."
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“'Oslo,' J.T. Rogers' stimulating envisioning of the secret talks that led to the Oslo Peace Accords…A vigorous, if not particularly subtle, performance…Jefferson Mays and Jennifer Ehle carry their roles with marvelous dignity and aplomb…We not only get some funny jokes that were probably never told but hear countless ‘F-word’ missiles being launched…Enough angry steam is blown off to crumble the walls of Jericho; there's so much SHOUTING it's a wonder anything gets done at all.”
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"Under the sterling direction of Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, this production sets the bar for 2017...Undeniably thrilling...As much as we know the outcome of these talks before the play begins, Rogers makes us feel like the game onstage could be over any second...The move to the larger Beaumont proves to be both a blessing and a curse...The set is given more room to breathe...However, some of the play’s intimacy disappears in its new home."
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"For close to three hours, we watch as Israel and the PLO struggle to form some kind of truce that will lead to less bloodshed. In the end as the main character offers hope, the audience is left feeling that peace will come when pigs fly...'Oslo' is well directed by Bartlett Sher, who engages the space. 15 actors tell the story of the historic turning point in Arab-Israeli relations…Ehle gives a wonderfully underrated performance while Mays allows us to see the flaws in men’s characters."
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