Oslo at NT

Saw this on Wednesday night. It's a terribly cliched thing to say, but it could've been 25 minutes shorter. I didn't have a sore bum or anything, I just had had enough of it. It's not the best play I've seen this year by some distance but it is good. Certainly I never would have engaged with this subject matter for this length of time in any other way, it was appropriately informative, set everything in context very nicely, funny where it should be. I don't mind the lack of drama because I don't want these sorts of semi-historical plays to make stuff up for the purposes of conflict and tension, but where's theres less of it I think the script has to be a bit punchier, and hence a bit shorter. Cast were great, I thought the lighting and (don't kill me) use of projections was quite nicely done. Hovering down the lower end of 4 stars.

It does?

15th, 16th and 18th September IIRC.

The Oslo press release on the NT website states what Jon has mentioned.

Perhaps a clash on the original 12th so they had to move the press at short notice and chose to spread them over three days, in preference to cancelling public bookings on a new single-date press night?

I was there too although didn't get an upgrade! Had already collected tickets last week though.

Enjoyed it - very reminiscent of "Democracy". Bit long and I'm still baffled by the tiny run at the Lyttleton followed by immediate transfer to the Pinter (the Pinter already has the Oslo display on the front!). Set seemed lost on the huge Lyttleton stage, lots of empty space with people pushing sofas off and on.

I suspect the set has been created for the Pinter in mind rather than the Lyttleton.

I'm impressed kathryn - never heard of anyone getting an upgrade in any of the NT's spaces!

It was sold out online so I presume these were either unused house seats or returns they hadn't managed to resell. Saw someone asking about returning a ticket for that day for resale and they said they had quite a few already returned to sell first.

I got upgraded once at the NT - think it was for the Rory Kinnear Hamlet. We'd booked seats in the side block of the stalls which they'd realised were restricted view due to the set, and moved us to top price stalls which was nice! Presume they put those seats on sale as restricted view for the rest of the run.

I enjoyed this without thinking it was remarkable. Entertaining certainly, it's surprisingly funny, and engaging. The first half flys by but, the second is a bit flabby in places and the piece loses its momentum before picking up again, though it's never dull. The staging is elegant and simple and it's generally well acted across the board. There's no showboating performance that will worry anyone come awards time, but it's a good piece of ensemble work. If anyone steals it, it's Philip Arditti, as Uri Savir, who develops into one of the show's most entertaining characters, with the biggest laughs. It's a genuinely fascinating drama. A play about process rather than dramatic outcome, and one that works very well considering. Its greatest strength perhaps lies in its revelation (though of course not new or always surprising) about our shared common humanity. It's moving and uplifting to see, even if the final outcome of all this effort is disheartening. My other half felt it drew strong parallels with Mo Mowlam's work on the peace process in Northern Ireland, which shows perhaps that we can learn from history. A solid four stars from me and it's a play I'd definitely read having seen it.

Ah. That's interesting. Maybe there will be an acting award then. It is the standout performance, in probably the most memorable role I think, in an otherwise strong cast.

I thought this was great. Fast paced, funny and interesting. Like first season West Wing!