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.' The famous response of Do
nald Rumsfeld, American Secretary of Defense, to the looting of Baghdad, at a pr
ess conference on 11 April 2003, provides the title for a new play, specially wr
itten for the Olivier Theatre, about the extraordinary process leading up to the
invasion of Iraq. How does the world settle its differences, now there is only
one superpower? What happens to leaders risking their credibility with sceptical
publics? From events which have dominated international headlines for the last
two years David Hare has fashioned both a historical narrative and a human drama
about the frustrations of power and the limits of diplomacy. Stuff Happens prem
iered at the National Theatre, London, in 2004 season and has subsequently been
performed around the world.
