A Human Being Died That Night: Review by Helen Shaw
Can we forgive? Should we? Nicholas Wright's capable adaptation of South African psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela's book A Human Being Died That Night quietly broaches these questions, offering at least one answer: The clemency-minded drama introduces a monster, and then it deliberately, inflexibly humanizes him.
The real Eugene de Kock was a police colonel, torturer and killer, tasked by the apartheid government with destroying the “black, Marxist menace.” He was later convicted and jailed, supposedly for 212 years. As played by Matthew Marsh, De Kock feels the possibility of eventual parole dangling, which may explain his frank vulnerability in his interviews with Truth and Reconciliation Commission member Gobodo-Madikizela (Noma Dumezweni).
So has he changed? Despite making him almost likable, there the play stays silent. A Human Being consists of jail-cell conversations (a distillation of 500 hours together) and some pained, empathetic asides by Gobodo-Madikizela. Her mind we can know, and we leave knowing that whatever the nature of evil, we have at least witnessed one version of the truly good.—Helen Shaw
BAM Fisher (Off Broadway). By Nicholas Wright, based on the book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela. Directed by Jonathan Munby. With Noma Dumezweni, Matthew Marsh. Running time: 1hr 25mins. No intermission.