[1] The play made its world premiere on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on 30 November 2006, directed by Sam Mendes.
The play received its UK premiere at the Royal Court Theatre on 17 January 2008 in a production directed by Jeremy Herrin.
The Vertical Hour was revived at the off-West End Park Theatre in a new production directed by Nigel Douglas.
The cast featured Peter Davison as Oliver Lucas, Finlay Robertson as Phillip, and Thusitha Jayasundera as Nadia Blye.
[11] Nadia Blye is a professor at Yale University, a former war correspondent during the 1990s Balkan conflicts, and a supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In the play, her character is described as having visited US President George W. Bush to offer advice on foreign policy related to the Middle East and Iraq.
Oliver counters that the US and UK invading forces had no plans for the reconstruction of Iraq and that the rationale for the invasion, purported weapons of mass destruction, was false and unjustified.