A friend of mine (you know who you are) once went to a theatrical performance in Israel. It was an Irish play about the Troubles, those violent difficulties between Catholics and Protestants that have only in recent years halted. One hopes they’ve stopped rather than paused, certainly. At intermission in this country where buses get bombed and farmers on tractors routinely carry long guns, he heard one theatre-goer say to another, “My goodness, I’m glad I don’t live there!”, referring to Northern Ireland.
Thinking people all struggle with political difficulties, even if it’s just dialogue in one’s own head. Those difficulties are all around us these days. A Human Being Died That Night, now at Upstream Theater, is about the aftermath of South Africa’s abolition of apartheid. Their Truth and Reconciliation Commission attempted to bridge some of the immense gap by officially hearing individual stories of the consequences of the racial laws. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela was a member of the commission, a clinical psychologist whose primary area of study was forgiveness. She wrote a book about her interviews with the commander of the state-sanctioned death squads, Eugene de Kock, after he was convicted. The play is based on those interviews.
Dr. Gobodo-Madikizela is Jacqueline Thompson. The role demands subtlety and self-control and Thompson is in firm command of the whole thing. It’s not a showy portrayal, and it shouldn’t be. Her work is writ fine and in an exquisite style. Gene de Kock, shackled to a stool in the visitors’ room and wearing an immense orange jumpsuit, is played by Christopher Harris. De Kock was labeled in newspapers at the time “Prime Evil”, and participated in many of the murderous episodes related. Does he regret what he did, or is this a game because he’s in solitary? Does he have some type of personality disorder? How do people get to this point? Early in the first encounter between the two, De Kock says to the psychologist, “Does all this remind you of Jody Foster and Sir Anthony Hopkins?” A logical question, perhaps, and yet it doesn’t, really, remind one. Harris’ character has a wider range in which to work than Thompson’s. He handles it remarkably well, extremely believable in a performance that will be remembered a long time.
Patrick Huber gives us a set that’s more than the visitors’ room, thanks to Michael Dorsey’s media work that evokes both the old and the new South Africa. There is no accent coach credited, but the South African accents are quite workable. I would encourage reading the program to get some details that will add to one’s knowledge of what’s about to happen, but it’s not essential. Some of the words are Britishisms – “biro”, for instance, meaning a ballpoint pen – if that’s a concern. One act, 100 minutes.
Director Patrick Siler has given us a small, carefully wrought gold nugget of a show, very much worth seeing. And worth thinking about here in St. Louis.
A Human Being Died That Night
through May 28
Upstream Theater
Kranzberg Arts Center
501 N. Grand
314-669-6382