In Hare's terms, and in Joe Morton's performance, Powell emerges as a tragic figure: the one key player in the administration who sees the folly of invasion but who, in a climactic encounter with Bush, bites the bullet and goes along with the Cheney-Rumsfeld line. Hare never explains what leads to Powell's capitulation, but he leaves you in no doubt that it was a form of self-betrayal. In fact, Hare succeeds where many political pundits have blundered because he resists the temptation of the big idea. This war, as he presents it, is not about oil, faulty intelligence, geo-politics, or any combination of such factors, so much as it is about moral fallibility—most of all it is about our willingness to believe whatever suits us best. Stuff Happens is more an indictment than a play. (...) Most of the actors, however, cannot rise above the smugness and caricature in the writing." - Howard Kissel, New York Daily News In this documentary play, Hare appears to be painting a portrait of our leaders and saying, when you elect people like this "Stuff Happens". The figure Rumsfeld has become -- his words now read simply as those of a maniac, desperately clinging to an illusion that was clearly false in 2003 (and is even more obviously so in 2005) -- differs sharply from his role as one of the men who did have a 'plan', practically from day one (and saw it as realisable from 11 September 2001, at the latest).

The real figures make the familiar statements, but there are also some (believable) behind-the-scenes recreations. The awareness of the emotional life of boys is slowly being recognised as a critical factor into the development of boys to be strong and courageous sensitive men. Stuff Happens explores feelings and emotions in an entertaining and humorous way, allowing boys to understand that it is OK to express emotion. This can only be positive! I highly recommend and love the books!' Deborah Jepsen, Educational and Developmental Psychologist – Melbourne Child Psychology / School Psychology ServicesThis last point is crucial because Hare avoids the trap of agitprop by cannily subverting the play's anti-war bias. You see this most powerfully in a speech, credited to a journalist, that questions our tendency to view Iraq from a local political viewpoint. "From what height of luxury and excess," says the character, "we look down to condemn the exact style in which even a little was given to those who had nothing."

This shows that no matter the situation and even if Powell had said no the president had already made his decision. It seems in way that Bush is sometimes abusing his power to gain the upper hand of people and not a lot of people would disagree with the President of the United States of America. As for political maneuvering, this is shown as Rumsfeld telling the press indirectly that they don’t need the British and there is also a bit of deception, as he has no sense of regret in his words.

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Once it becomes clear that Bush has decided on war, then there is a powerful incentive for those around him to find a rationale for the coming conflict that they can live with. After all, they can’t dissuade this man. As Swift’s wonderful aphorism puts it, which is attached as an epigraph to the play: “It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into.” In the last year, it has been difficult to escape plays about American imperialism in Iraq and the consequences of the War on Terror. Without too much difficulty, the mind dredges up The Madness of George Dubya, Guantanamo and most recently, Tim Robbins' Embedded.