TimeLine Theatre Company has announced that it has landed the Chicago premiere of J.T. Rogers’ Tony Award-winning OSLO as the opener to its 2019-2020 season at a supersized venue — the 549-seat Broadway Playhouse in the basement of Water Tower Place. Directed by Nick Bowling, OSLO will run September 10 – October 20. The rest of the to-be-announced season will be produced at the company’s 615 W. Wellington home.
“We are thrilled to further our relationship with J.T. Rogers, who has been a tremendous champion of TimeLine’s work for many years,” Artistic Director PJ Powers said. “Following our 2013 production of his play BLOOD AND GIFTS, we were eager to follow wherever J.T. went next since his writing so beautifully aligns with TimeLine’s exploration of today’s issues through the lens of the past. Oslo blew us away just as it did audiences in New York and London, and we began a quest to premiere it in Chicago.”
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“Knowing that the play’s epic story demanded a larger canvas than TimeLine’s current home, we are delighted to present it at the Broadway Playhouse in our largest production to date,” Powers added. “What a beautiful pairing once again of J.T. and director Nick Bowling for a history-making TimeLine production.”
Rogers added that “TimeLine literally tore down a wall in their theater so they could stage my last play Blood and Gifts. And what a fine staging it was. This is a company that punches far above its weight. When they believe in a play, they will not be stopped. So as you can imagine, I’m thrilled to be able to collaborate again with this splendid group of artists.”
OSLO premiered in fall 2016 in a sold-out run at New York’s Lincoln Center and opened on Broadway in April 2017. It then played at London’s Royal National Theatre in September 2017 before transferring to the West End in October 2017. It’s the recipient of the 2017 Tony Award for Best Play, as well as New York Critics, Outer Critics, Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, and Obie awards—a sweep of the 2016-17 New York awards season—and was nominated for the Olivier and Evening Standard awards.
TimeLine recently announced the acquisition of a building on Broadway in the Uptown neighborhood that will become its future multi-venue home.
Jason is a producer, manager, and designer with 17 years of experience in Chicago, New York, and in the touring market. In 2015, he founded Lotus Theatricals - the publisher of Performink, and an independent commercial producing company - with Abigail Trabue.
