British playwright David Hare's political play "Stuff Happens" depicts the political intrigue leading to the invasion of Iraq, by relying on public speeches, meeting transcripts or interviews. But while the play running at the Phoenix Theatre has a journalistic feel to it, it is not journalism.

The play takes license, by speculating about private talks that President George W. Bush and then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair may have had.

And in the midst of a seemingly objective chronicle, Hare's views come across clearly. At the start of Act 1, an actor declares that "The inevitable is what will seem to happen to you purely by chance," suggesting that fate will run its course, and that the Iraq invasion amounts to a latter-day Greek tragedy. In Act 2, an adviser tells Blair bluntly that "Bush has used you."

Because "Stuff Happens" is an idea piece, it seems fitting that theater professors from three Hoosier campuses have key roles in this rendering. Director Dale McFadden teaches at Indiana University in Bloomington; set designer James Gross, at Wabash College and Rich Rand, who plays Blair, at Purdue University.

While the dialogs and short narratives in "Stuff Happens" can get heavy, the glaze-over factor being especially strong at the end of Act 1, the production doesn't feel weighty overall. Maybe that's because McFadden stresses the personalities behind the conflict.

"Stuff Happens," which takes its name from former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's comments on the looting of Baghdad, calls for six actors to play real-life characters, and for 10 others to handle multiple roles. This cast doesn't attempt impersonations, yet the two principals who create the most sparks behind doors have a strong ring of truth about them.

Doug Johnson doesn't resemble Bush at all, but his speech combines a familiar clipped cadence, folksy demeanor and underlying arrogance. In Michael Smith's superb portrait of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, you can see his doubts from the start, which turns him into a tragic figure who knows the right thing to do, but can't.

Rand's relentlessly intense Blair bristles with excitement over being a key Bush ally, but unravels into a nervous wreck, terrified that he will lose credibility with the British people who oppose the war. Dena Toler's Condoleezza Rice comes across as an appropriately incredulous, yet loyal team player, but inappropriately stupid.

At a time when most Americans don't take a great deal of interest in politics, "Stuff Happens" probably won't draw record crowds to the Phoenix. But Hare's controversial play does allow Americans a chance to see ourselves as others see us.