David Hare's 'Stuff Happens' - Reviews and Critiques - Critic's Corner

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David Hare's 'Stuff Happens'

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TTigerX2
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Posted: Wed May 21st, 2008 06:55 pm

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David Hare uses two words to describe former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld's explanation why things were going so badly after the invasion of Iraq and why so many innocents were being killed. Rumsfeld explained the collateral damage as "Stuff Happens". Hare takes us inside the White House cabal of the neocon war planners, using both factual and imagined conversations between Cheney, Bush, Rice, Rumsfeld and Colin Powell, along with other actors on the stage at the time, including a perplexed Tony Blair. The narrative runs the gamut from the early days to the culmination of the action to invade Iraq when there was clearly no Al Qaeda threat or weapons of mass destruction. The play ends like any Shakespearean tragedy with everyone musing the faults of others or taking themselves too seriously for self-reflection. Only Colin Powell falls on his sword. This remarkable play was the National Theatre's longest ever run but then to the playwright's surprise it was not extended despite wide demand. Hare never received an explanation. (All this can be seen in a televised interview with Charlie Rose and Hare on You Tube or on Rose's website.) Hare, a Brit, doesn't carry the baggage of Imperial America; he deftly wields a pen to discover the moments when destiny reveals the frailty of men in high places and how far they will go to amass power.

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