Stuff Happens
You must add a |reason= parameter to this Cleanup template – replace it with {{Cleanup|May 2005|reason=<Fill reason here>}}, or remove the Cleanup template.
Stuff Happens is a play by David Hare, written in response to the Iraq War. By Hare's own description it is "a history play", but one that deals with recent history. It presents a mix of viewpoints: general arguments for and against the attack on Iraq, mixing verbatim re-creations of real speeches, meetings and press conferences and fictionalised versions of private meetings between members of the Bush administration and international leaders.
The title is inspired by Donald Rumsfeld's response to widespread looting in Baghdad:
- "Stuff happens and it’s untidy, and freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.” -- Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense, April 11, 2003
A large ensemble cast play over 40 roles during the 3 hour play. Key players Bush, Rice, Powell and Blair are readily identifyable and play only the one role. The audience listens in on intimate conversations between the key players after September 11, 2001, while planning the war in Iraq.
It has been performed at the National Theatre, UK between September and November 2004, at the Los Angeles Mark Taper Forum in June 2005, and at Sydney's Seymour Center in July 2005.
[[Category:British plays]