On September 5th, Stuff Happens, the critically acclaimed David Hare political drama that ended its hit Public Theater run on June 25th, will be seen in a staged reading featuring much of its original cast. It will take place at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.
After beginning previews at the Public Theater on March 28th and opening to mostly glowing reviews on April 13th, the production was twice extended before closing in late June.
"A
provocative and thoughtful play about how and why we went to war in
Iraq, Stuff Happens brings to the stage an ongoing story of great
national and international importance, with characters and dialogue
seemingly ripped from today's headlines. Inspired by actual events -
both public and private - that have been authenticated from multiple
sources, Stuff Happens is a powerful history play that brilliantly
transforms 'real life' into profound drama," according to press notes.
Stuff Happens' original cast had included
Jay O. Sanders as President George W. Bush,
Byron Jennings as British
Prime Minister Tony Blair,
George Bartenieff as Hans Blix and Jack
Straw,
Jeffrey DeMunn as Donald Rumsfeld,
Zach Grenier as Dick Cheney,
Peter Francis James as
Colin Powell, Ken Marks as David
Manning and Michael Gerson,
David Pittu as Paul Wolfowitz and Sir
Richard Dearlove,
Gloria Reuben as Condoleezza Rice,
Armand Schultz as Jonathan
Powell and Robin Cook,
Robert Sella as an Angry Journalist and
Dominique De Villepin, and
Brenda Wehle as a New Labour Politician and
Laura Bush.
Hare had
said, "I've been amazed at how timely the play has seemed to be in New
York. A lot of people had warned me in advance that audiences would no
longer be interested in the path to the Iraq war – they'd rather watch
comedies and musicals, they said. So, clearly, it was exceptionally
brave of Oskar Eustis
to revive the best traditions of The Public Theater and to take such a
huge risk against the common wisdom. To see that risk pay off so
spectacularly both at the box office and in the extraordinary intensity
of the response has been profoundly satisfying. As usual, the audience
is ahead of the rest of us."Stuff Happens won OBIE Awards for Performance (Jennings and James) and for Direction (Sullivan), a Drama Desk Special Ensemble Award for Acting, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play.
Visit
www.publictheater.org for more information.
