Devil's Worm tells the story of a man named Tsafendas, who in 1966 assassinated South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd – and was deliberately branded as "mentally unfit" by the apartheid regime in order to obscure his political motives.
The play traces his journey across migration, education, and moral awakening, exposing how state bureaucracy and manipulated psychiatric reports fabricated a historical lie. A chorus of officials, psychiatrists, and archivists gives voice to the official narrative, while witnesses and documents gradually piece together the truth – not that of a mere assassin, but of a man who committed an act against an inhuman system.
At its heart, the play places Tsafendas as a human being whose story demands to be retold.
Because truth takes time.
Because theatre is where history becomes visible again.
