A Human Being Died That Night
Based on the book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
Adapted for the stage by Nicholas Wright
October 2018
The Latvian Society Theater
An intimate production about a magnanimous atrocity.
EgoPo’s mainstage season kicked off with this searing account of the atrocities committed by the South African police forces under apartheid. This heart-rending play is adapted from the award-winning 2003 book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, a psychologist who served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Set in Pretoria Central Prison, the author is assigned to report on ex-officer Eugene de Kock, nicknamed Prime Evil. Pumla and Eugene must confront their ideas of humanity and the power of forgiveness and remorse.
Creative Team
Steve Wright … Director
Yoshi Nomura … Production Design
Amanda Jensen … Lighting Design
Melanie Julian … Dialect Coach
Kirstie Floyd … Dramaturg
Elizabeth Meisenzahl … Stage Manager
Leo Bond … Production Manager
Cass Meehan … Production Photos
Cast
Niya Colbert … Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
Paul L. Nolan … Eugene de Kock
About Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela (b. 1955) is the Research Chair in Studies in Historical Trauma and Transformation at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
She graduated from Fort Hare University with a bachelor's degree and an Honours degree in psychology. She obtained her master's degree in Clinical Psychology at Rhodes University. She received her PhD in psychology from the University of Cape Town. Her doctoral thesis, entitled "Legacies of violence: An in-depth analysis of two case studies based on interviews with perpetrators of a 'necklace' murder and with Eugene de Kock", offers a perspective that integrates psychoanalytic and social psychological concepts to understand extreme forms of violence committed during the apartheid era. Her main interests are traumatic memories in the aftermath of political conflict, post-conflict reconciliation, empathy, forgiveness, psychoanalysis and intersubjectivity. She served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). She currently works at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein as a senior research professor.
About Nicholas Wright
Nicholas Verney Wright (b. 1940) is a British dramatist born in Cape Town, South Africa.
He came to London in 1958 to train as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and subsequently worked as a floor-assistant in BBC Television and as a runner in film, notably John Schlesinger's Far From the Madding Crowd. He started work at the Royal Court Theatre in 1965 as Casting Director and became, first, an assistant director there and then the first Director of the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs, where for several years he presented an innovatory programme of new writing. From 1975 to 1977 he was joint artistic director of the Royal Court and he was subsequently a member of the Royal Court Theatre's Board.
He is former literary manager and associate director of the Royal National Theatre, and a former member of the National Theatre Board. In 2015 and 2016 he was the judge of the Yale Drama Series competition for playwrights. His publications include 99 Plays, a survey of drama from Aeschylus to the present day, and Changing Stages, co-written with Richard Eyre.