Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with STUFF HAPPENS at the National Theatre

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 American Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld's famous response to the looting of Baghdad at a press conference in April 2003 provided the title for David Hare's play. First performed at the NT in 2004, the play explores the extraordinary events leading up to the invasion of Iraq.

Marking the long awaited Chilcot Inquiry report on 6 July, David Hare directed a rehearsed reading of his landmark production last night at the National Theatre, with a cast including Adjoa Andoh, Isla Blair, Gunnar Cauthery, William Chubb, Tom Colley, John Paul Connolly, Andrew Havill, Alex Jennings, Corey Johnson, Anton Lesser, Charlotte Lucas, Martin McDougall, Iain Mitchell, Bill Nighy, Simon Paisley Day, Raad Rawi, Sirine Saba, Julian Sands, Danny Sapani, Tony Turner, and Nicholas Woodeson.

See the cast in rehearsal below, photographed by Atri Banerjee

Tom Colley (Ensemble), Julian Sands (Tony Blair)

The cast of Stuff Happens

The cast of Stuff Happens

The cast of Stuff Happens

Sirine Saba (Ensemble)

Tom Colley (Ensemble), Simon Paisley Day (Domique De Villepin), Andrew Havill (Ensemble)

Tom Colley (Ensemble), Julian Sands (Tony Blair), Gunnar Cauthery (Ensemble)

Julian Sands (Tony Blair), Tom Colley (Ensemble)

David Hare (writer & director)

Danny Sapani (Colin Powell)
Bill Nighy (Narrator)

Alex Jennings (George W Bush), Adjoa Andoh (Condoleeza Rice), Martin McDougall (Ensemble)

Alex Jennings (George W Bush), Adjoa Andoh (Condoleeza Rice)

Alex Jennings (George W Bush)

Adjoa Andoh (Condoleeza Rice)