Into That Darkness @ Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

“The truth is a terrible thing…”

A raw, immersive piece of theatre, Into that Darkness is less moving than utterly groundbreaking. Robert David Macdonald’s adaptation of renowned journalist Gita Sereny’s book is fantastically directed by Gareth Nicholls in this intensely disturbing investigation into the psyche of Nazi war criminal Franz Stangl. 

Visually, the play, designed by Neil Haynes, has real impact. The action takes place within a huge glass box, set up inside as a bleak interview room.

When the lights inside the box are down, the audience are faced with flashes of startling lights so they can see themselves clearly in the glass – literally forcing them to confront their reaction to the unthinkable horrors revealed by Stangl when interviewed by Sereny.

From the other side of this glass fourth wall, the audience watch something shocking, stomach turning and incredibly special. Both Blythe Duff and Chris Burnett are awe-inspiring as Gita Sereny and Franz Stangl. At first, Gita is business-like, yet as the play goes on she starts to break down at Stangl’s disturbing emotional unresponsiveness. Eventually, under her relentless scrutiny, we see Stangl’s guilty conscience begin to surface as he also faces a breakdown. The audience mull over a statement from Sereny – is the truth perhaps sometimes too terrible to face? 

This is so much more than a play about the horrors of the holocaust. Powerfully refusing to shy away from difficult questions about journalism, truth and ultimately human nature, this will resonate in the mind for a long, long time.