Peacemaking on Stage: OSLO

September 13, 1993 is a date that many of a certain age will recognize as the day the OSLO ACCORDS were signed. It was marked by a White House Rose Garden ceremony with President Bill Clinton officiating over a handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Itzak Rabin and Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Papers were signed by both warring parties to set up a framework for peace between the two adversaries. Back then, and still today, the OSLO ACCORDS represent at least a hopeful moment for peace. Although the Oslo Accords didn’t result in a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine, how they came to be at all makes for a fascinating study in the hope for change, the persistence and bravery of negotiators on both sides of a conflict, and, in this case, the dogged determination of two Norwegian peacemakers who drove the whole process. A stage dramatization of the story of OSLO was written by J.T. Rogers and directed by Bartlett Sher. It started modestly in 2016 at a small theater at New York’s Lincoln Center. Later it advanced to the Lincoln Center’s Broadway stage, and went on to win the award for BEST PLAY at 2017’s Tony Awards. Today on Peace Talks Radio, host Paul Ingles talks with both OSLO playwright JT Rogers and director Bartlett Sher about the peacemaking lessons on display in the acclaimed play.