The Public to Present David Hare's Stuff Happens in the Spring

David Hare's controversial political play Stuff Happens has joined the Public Theater season. The show will begin previews on March 21, taking the slot that was supposed to be held by Anna Deveare Smith's Let Me Down Easy, which has been moved to the 2006-2007 season due to "an expansion in the scope of the project," according to a production statement.

The American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's famous response to the looting of Baghdad at a press conference on April 11, 2003 provides the title for this new play, which was written for the National Theatre in London where it premiered last year. From events that have dominated international headlines for the last two years, Hare has fashioned both a historical narrative and a human drama about the frustrations of power and the limits of diplomacy.

The play premiered at the National Theatre, where it was directed by Nicholas Hytner and received mixed to positive reviews. Gordon Davidson directed the show's U.S. premiere at the Mark Taper Forum this summer. Daniel Sullivan will helm the Public production.

During the New York run of Stuff Happens, Hare will be in residence at the Public incorporating new material into the script that speaks to recent political events.