Interview: OSLO's Jennifer Ehle and the Mission Possible

Jennifer Ehle, product of Winston-Salem, N.C., knew about as much about the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization as the rest of us.

"I knew very little about the 1993 Oslo Accords before doing this play," said Jennifer Ehle, who plays Mona Juul, an official in the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, in Oslo at the Newhouse Theater in Lincoln Center. "I remember the pictures of Arafat and Rabin and President Clinton at the White House, but it never occurred to me that all the negotiations hadn't taken place right there."

She knows plenty now.

Ehle, along with Jefferson Mays, who plays her social-scientist husband, Terje Rod-Larsen, helps broker meetings with Palestinian and Israeli representatives in their native Norway. The informal meetings were hosted by Larsen's organization, the Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science.

The groups of adversaries painstakingly construct over months what will become the historic document. Anthony Azizi is Ahmed Qurie, finance minister for the Palestine Liberation Organization; Michael Aronov, portrays Uri Savir, the main Israeli negotiator; Daniel Oreskes portrays Foreign Minister Shimon Peres; Dariush Kasani plays Hassan Asfour, the official PLO liaison, T. Ryder Smith plays Foreign Minister Johan Jorgen Holst, married to Marianne Heiberg, played by Henny Russell, who also plays the housekeeper and a Swedish hostess, is an executive with the Fafo Institute.

The large cast,with some members pulling double and triple duty includes foreign ministers, a PLO liaison delegate, professors of economics and officers with the Norwegian police intelligence service and a German couple played by Jeb Kreager and Angela Pierce.

The Oslo Accords were signed in a White House ceremony on Sept. 13, 1993, during the first face-to-face meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. President Bill Clinton also signed the agreement. It stipulated that the Palestinians would be self-governed and Israel would withdraw defense forces from parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The three-hour drama (two intermissions) weaves slide projections, loud arguments, bursts of humor, and scores of scene changes in which the actors join in shoving furniture to and fro. "There were 67 scene changes at one point," Ehle said after a photo shoot for the play. "I carried a cheat sheet that told me what had to be moved in what scene and where I had to be."

A lot of liquid is poured and imbibed, including champagne (seltzer with yellow food coloring) and whisky (diluted decaf tea). Waffles are eaten and sometimes mishaps occur during the furniture moving, Ehle said. "There are strategically placed towels to soak up any liquids that spill," she said with a laugh.

During rehearsal the cast members had access to a lending library filled with books on the period. "I did a lot of research, we all did," Ehle said. "It was a gift being able to immerse myself in different cultures and stories, and this was a fascinating time. J.T. and Bartlett are geniuses," she said of the playwright, J.T. Rogers, and the director, Bartlett Sher. "Playing with Jefferson is such a joy and delight. We've been a good fit from the beginning and I love their relationship," Ehle said of the couple.

OSLO has proved so successful that it's moving to Lincoln Center's larger Vivian Beaumont Theater with previews starting in March 2017. The Beaumont is New York City's only Broadway theater not in Times Square's theater district.

"It's incredibly exciting to be making this move. It's wonderful when this happens to something you love," said Ehle. "When people respond to a play and then we get a chance to bring it to the Beaumont, one of the great spaces in the city, it's just amazing."

Ehle thinks people have responded so positively because the Mideast remains in conflict. "I think audiences are applying the idea of implacable adversaries finding a common ground," she said. "The events of that time could easily be applied to events of today. I didn't foresee that happening," she added.

"I assumed this would be a certain moment in time set in amber about the PLO and the Israelis. I think people are coming in and thinking about Democrats and Republicans and Brexit and the NRA," Ehle said. "It makes it more immediate and the audiences seem to respond completely."

The tiered rows of seats look down on the action. "It is such an intimate space," she said, "and the way the audience looks down it's like they're looking at an old-fashioned operating room."

Because of the close proximity to the audience, the cast is aware of audience reaction. "They're often physically leaning in, which is rare for plays I think," she said. "They're not leaning in at the beginning but by the end they are. It's exciting stuff."

Ehle doesn't think Audience members need to have deep knowledge of the events depicted. "I think a majority of people don't know as many details as the play presents," she said. "It's such a rare thing to play a woman who is unapologetically passionate about her career," Mona Juul is currently Norway's ambassador to the United Nations.

"This whole process has been such a privilege. I think the desire for hope is very timely," Ehle said. "Terje says several times in the play that 1993 was a moment when there was so much upheaval in the world. Big changes were afoot, the powers were shifting," she said.

"This is another moment when this is happening now. It might feel that everything is all negative, but it's also a wonderful moment when there can also be hope," Ehle said.

"I can't imagine how it would feel to end in two weeks. I can't wait to get back in the rehearsal room."

OSLO is playing at the Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse, 150 W. 65th Street.