A Human Being Died That Night
| Author | Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela |
|---|---|
| Country | South Africa |
| Published | 2003 (David Philip Cape Town) |
| Awards | Alan Paton Award, 2004 |
| ISBN | 978-0618211890 |
A Human Being Died That Night is a book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela.
The book is Gobodo-Madikizela's account of her interviews with state-sanctioned mass murderer Eugene De Kock from the time of apartheid in South Africa. These interviews are mixed in with stories of victims and criminals on both sides of the racial barrier that she met with during her time as a member of the Human Rights Violations Committee, a part of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The book focuses on her growing empathy for those pushed by a cruel system into losing their morality and becoming killers (killers from all races) and her attempt to understand what causes someone to be able to commit crimes against humanity, and is considered an examination of the broader impact of the Truth Commission process.
The book won the Alan Paton Award in 2004.
Stage adaptation
A play, with the same title, was written in 2013 by Nicholas Wright, and produced at the Fugard Theater in Cape Town, the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, and the Hampstead Theatre in London.[1][2][3]
References
- ↑ Taylor, Paul (2014-05-29). "A Human Being Died That Night, Hampstead Theatre, review". The Independent. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ↑ Shilling, Jane (2014-05-29). "A Human Being Died That Night, Hampstead Theatre, review: 'agonising'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
- ↑ Sulcas, Roslyn (2014-06-06). "A Bit of South Africa's Ugly Past Comes to the Stage". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-05-15.