‘Oslo’ won the Tony Award for Best Play

The play about the Oslo Accord – ‘Oslo’ – won one of the most coveted Tony awards in New York on Monday night Norwegian time.

The theater lasts three hours and is about what led to the Oslo accord and the handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

Earlier in the evening the play also won the award for best supporting actor. It was given to Michael Aronov, who plays an Israeli diplomat. The role is his second on Broadway.

The drama with the most nominations was ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’ with eight, followed by ‘Oslo’ with seven. Laurie Metcalf won the award for best female actor in the play mentioned first. Metcalf plays Nora Helmer 15 years after she leaves her husband Torvald. The American dramatist Lucas Hnath has written the play.

Kevin Spacey

The night’s host Kevin Spacey opened the award ceremony with dance, singing and jokes, in an opening number that linked the four musicals with the most nominations. Spacey is also known for his imitations, and this time it was Glenn Close’s turn to be imitated.

The four musicals with the most nominations were ‘Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet in 1812’, ‘Hello Dolly!’, ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and ‘Groundhog Day the Musical’.

The presenters included Orlando Bloom, Tina Fey, Scarlett Johansson, Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg, Mark Hamill and John Legend.

This year’s Tony Awards is the 71st in a row.

The Oslo I Accord, from wikipedia

The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP), was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. It was the first face-to-face agreement between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Clinton, Rabin and Arafat shakes hands after signing the Oslo accord. By Vince Musi / The White House – gpo.gov

Negotiations concerning the agreement, an outgrowth of the Madrid Conference of 1991, were conducted secretly in Oslo, Norway, hosted by the Fafo institute, and completed on 20 August 1993; the Oslo Accords were subsequently officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington, D.C., on 13 September 1993, in the presence of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and U.S. President Bill Clinton. The documents themselves were signed by Mahmoud Abbas for the PLO, foreign Minister Shimon Peres for Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher for the United States and foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev for Russia.

The Accord provided for the creation of a Palestinian interim self-government, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The Palestinian Authority would have responsibility for the administration of the territory under its control. The Accords also called for the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

It was anticipated that this arrangement would last for a five-year interim period during which a permanent agreement would be negotiated (beginning no later than May 1996). Remaining issues such as Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements, security and borders would be part of the “permanent status negotiations” during this period.

In August 1993, the delegations had reached an agreement, which was signed in secrecy by Peres while visiting Oslo. In the Letters of Mutual Recognition, the PLO acknowledged the State of Israel and pledged to reject violence, and Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and as partner in negotiations. Yasser Arafat was allowed to return to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In 1995, the Oslo I Accord was followed by Oslo II. Neither promised Palestinian statehood.