BROOKLYN, N.Y.—When South African writer Nicholas Wright came across Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela’s book “A Human Being Died That Night” in a Charing Cross Road bookshop in London, he determined to adapt it into a play.
The result is the 80-minute offering currently enveloping viewers at BAM, having been imported from the Fugard Theatre in South Africa by producer Eric Abraham. It is directed by Jonathan Munby.
Two characters meet in the Pretoria Central Prison cell: black South African psychologist Dr. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela (the elegant, controlled Noma Dumezweni) and a convicted murderer, South African ex-policeman Eugene de Kock (Matthew Marsh).
The silent Prison Guard is portrayed by Motell Foster.
Known as Prime Evil, de Kock has been sentenced to serve two life sentences plus 212 years for “political crimes.”
Gobodo-Madikizela is to interview de Kock to determine what makes him tick: Is he so different from ordinary folk; does he have a propensity for evil that caused him to so enthusiastically perform his duties of murderer?
