BLANCHARD: ‘Stuff Happens’ follows path to war

Recent events are turned into the stuff of epic tragedy in David Hare’s frequently gripping political drama “Stuff Happens,” a Washington premiere given a polished, impeccably acted staging at Olney Theatre Center under the gifted guidance of director Jeremy Skidmore.

Mr. Hare, a British playwright, wrote the play in 2004 as a meticulous timeline showing how President Bush dug in his heels with his 2003 decision to invade Iraq and why then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair chose to follow his lead. The nearly three-hour play is chock-full of excerpts from transcripts, interviews, press conferences, sound bites, trumped up “dramatizations” of private conversations and closed-door powwows that would be right at home on segments of “To Catch a Predator.”

You do get caught up in the impetus, pettiness and carefully crafted deceptions of the events leading up to the Iraq conflict - especially in the rapid-fire first act, which juxtaposes tense strategic Bush Cabinet meetings with folksier scenes at the president’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, and his Camp David retreat. The second act bogs down with an interminable showdown between Mr. Bush, the French ambassador and United Nations official Hans Blix (Daniel Lyons) in the crafting of the war resolutions. By the time an Iraqi (Amir Arison) delivers a desultory speech about the plight of his people, a cloud of rhetoric has settled over the play.

For the most part, Mr. Hare avoids caricature and self-righteous smugness. Yet one scene at Camp David seems ridiculous and insulting, as Laura Bush (Naomi Jacobson) requests a postprandial hymn and the only black woman in the room, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (Deirdra LaWan Starnes), launches into “Amazing Grace” - then, the only other black present, former Secretary of State Colin Powell (Frederick L. Strother Jr.) joins in on the harmony.

“Stuff Happens” is not so much a political play as a play about politicians. Mr. Skidmore has assembled a top-notch cast of actors who rise above comedic impressions. Jeff Allinembodies the manic zeal of Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Leo Erickson captures the inscrutable, Cheshire Cat quality of Mr. Cheney. Carlos Bustamante and Mr. Arison are striking in a number of international roles, while Steve Schmidt exudes drive and ill-fated purpose as Tony Blair.

Rick Foucheux resists the temptation for buffoonery with President Bush, and this portrayal is cannily comic and often poignant. As a great man who takes a great fall, Mr. Strother’s Colin Powell approaches a modern-day King Lear figure.

The keenest drawback to “Stuff Happens” is that the story ends in 2004 - well before Abu Ghraib, the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein, the Valerie Plame scandal, and other events. Thanks to real life, this play offers little beyond a calculated chronology of the path to war.

★★★

WHAT: “Stuff Happens” by David Hare

WHERE: Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney

WHEN: 7:45 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, 1:45 p.m. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Through July 20.

TICKETS: $25 to $48

PHONE: 301/924-3400

WEB SITE: www.olneytheatre.org

MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS