Stuff Happens Returns for Central Park Staged Reading, 9/5

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.

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