SMU Theatre opens season with Stuff Happens for this week only

by Shawn Parikh

The critically-acclaimed SMU Theatre Department is getting ready to open their 2007-2008 season with Stuff Happens, running from September 26-30. David Hare's play has been hailed by critics in both England and the United States as “brilliant,” “fascinating,” and “hardhitting yet balanced.”

Winner of the 2007 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Off-Broadway Play, traces the political decision-making in Washington and London that led up to the invasion of Iraq. The play, whose title is inspired by Donald Rumsfeld’s response to widespread looting in Baghdad, and whose characters include President Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell and other leading figures, relies on both published records and speculation to address how and why the Iraq war began.

The play presents a range of viewpoints, including arguments for and against the attack on Iraq, mixing verbatim recreations of real speeches, meetings and press conferences and fictionalized versions of private meetings between members of the Bush and Blair administrations, and other international figures such as Hans Blix and Dominique de Villepin.

The show is directed by Rhonda Blair and will take place in the Margo Jones Theatre. Call 214-768-ARTS for tickets. Here is Rumsfeld making his famous comment: