Photo Flash: Northern Stage Presents Tony Nominated Drama OSLO

J.T. Rogers' Oslo, winner of the 2017 Tony Award for Best Play, and Sarah Ruhl's Dear Elizabeth play in rotating repertory live on stage at the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction, VT. Oslo plays September 19 - October 21 and Dear Elizabeth, October 4 - 28. For tickets and information, call (802) 296-7000 or visit northernstage.org. Tickets start at $19 for students and $34 for adults.

Northern Stage is one of the first regional theaters to present Oslo after acclaimed productions on Broadway and the West End. Inspired by the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians, Oslo is a deeply personal story about the individuals behind an historic peace negotiation and their all-too-human ambitions. "I am obsessed with putting characters onstage who struggle with, and against, cascading world events and who are changed forever through that struggle," says playwright J. T. Rogers. "While journalism sharpens our minds, the theater can expand our sense of what it means to be human." Peter Hackett directs (also at Northern Stage: Noises Off, A Christmas Carol, and The Hound of the Baskervilles, among others). Northern Stage is thrilled to introduce to the Upper Valley Todd Cerveris (Broadway: Twentieth Century, South Pacific), Dominic Comperatore (Broadway: A View From the Bridge - Tony Award: Best Revival), Tom Mardirosian (Broadway: Wonderful Town, Happy End, The Magic Show), and Louis Sallan (The Invisible Hand at Cleveland Playhouse, Bashir, Reza/all the males, The Strangest at New York Theatre Workshop). Northern Stage welcomes back Susan Haefner (Northern Stage: Noises Off, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins; Broadway: State Fair, Thoroughly Modern Millie), David Mason (Noises Off, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Trick or Treat), Matthew Cohn (A Doll's House, The Importance of Being Earnest), Mike Backman (Blithe Spirit), Eric Bunge (Northern Stage Managing Director; Mamma Mia!, A Christmas Carol, Mary Poppins), Amanda Rafuse (Northern Stage Director of Artistic Outreach; Our Town, A Christmas Carol, Fox on the Fairway), Max Samuels (A Christmas Carol), and Paul West (A Christmas Carol, Disney's The Little Mermaid). Northern Stage's Dartmouth Experiential Term students Zachary Gottschall, Sophia Kinne, Kerrigan Quenemoen, and Sam West complete the cast and will assist in all aspects of Northern Stage's operations this fall.

Dear Elizabeth, October 4 - 28, follows the beautiful and bittersweet friendship between American poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell as told through the letters they wrote to one another and features a rotating cast of artists. Susan Haefner and David Mason perform October 4 - 17, and Northern Stage's own Producing Artistic Director Carol Dunne (who directed Northern Stage's Disgraced, Only Yesterday, Mamma Mia!, and Trick or Treat, among others, and performed in Songs for a New World, Lend Me a Tenor, and Cats) directs the piece and performs with Thom Miller (The Hound of the Baskervilles, Mad Love, Boeing Boeing) October 18 - 28. "I have long been a fan of playwright Sarah Ruhl," says Dunne. "Her blend of the mundane and the magical beautifully illuminates the exquisite friendship between two celebrated poets." E-Term students Sophia Kinne and Sam West also perform in Dear Elizabeth.

The creative team for the repertory is completed by Rebecca Lord-Surratt (Scenic Designer), Hunter Kaczorowski (Costume Designer), Jennifer Reiser (Lighting Designer), Jane Shaw (Sound Designer), Alek Deva (Projection Designer), Brian R. Sekinger (Production Stage Manager), and Jess Johnston (Assistant Stage Manager). Dale Coye and Louis Sallan serve as the Oslo dialect coaches.

Free "Spot On" moderated conversations will contextualize the productions. Spot On: Oslo will focus on cultivating peace locally and internationally and features visiting Dartmouth Professors Bernard Avishai (author of The Tragedy of Zionism, A New Israel, The Hebrew Republic, and Promiscuous: Portnoy's Complaint and Our Doomed Pursuit of Happiness) and Ezzedine Choukri Fishere (a leading Arabic novelist, educator, and diplomat) in conversation with Oslo director Peter Hackett and Northern Stage Director of Artistic Outreach Amanda Rafuse. With the play and the 1993 Oslo Accords as a jumping off point, this discussion will center around the international history, culture, and society of the modern Middle East and will take place on Sunday, September 23, 3 - 4 PM. On Sunday October 14, 3 - 4 PM, Spot On: Dear Elizabeth will feature Vermont's Poet Laureate Chard DeNiord discussing Bishop, Lowell, their relationship, and the role of poetry in our world today. Both conversations take place at the Barrette Center for the Arts and will be followed by receptions. Admission to Spot On is free, and seats may be booked through the Northern Stage Box Office at (802) 296-7000. A complimentary post-show reception with the cast follows the opening night performance on Saturday, September 22 for Oslo and Saturday, October 6 for Dear Elizabeth. Optional post-show conversations with the company follow evening performances September 29 and October 7, 27, and 28. In honor of Bishop and Lowell, Northern Stage invites the community to participate in a Poetry Open Mic on Friday, October 5, 5 - 7 PM.

The 2018-19 Season is underwritten by Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. Oslo is sponsored by Casella Resource Solutions and The Norwich Inn, and Dear Elizabeth is sponsored by Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty and Sabil & Sons. $19 Student Tickets and $5 Access for All tickets (for EBT card holders) are available for any performance. Adult ticket prices range from $34 - $59.

Northern Stage (northernstage.org) is a regional non-profit LORT-D professional theater company located in White River Junction, VT. Northern Stage actively engages its audiences with world-class productions and extensive educational and outreach programs in its new home, the Barrette Center for the Arts. Founded in 1997, the company has offered more than 150 professional productions of new works, classics, and musicals. Now in its 22nd Season, Northern Stage serves over 50,000 people. In 2014, the company launched a new play festival that has cultivated five world premiere productions and two Off-Broadway transfers. A robust educational program focuses on professional training in a nurturing and supportive environment for students of all ages. Offerings include student acting ensembles, a summer musical theater intensive, and an expansive theater-in-the-schools residency program. Northern Stage's breadth of programming supports the company's mission to "change lives, one story at a time."

Photo Credit: Kata Sasvari

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