June 2, 2006
By Ndaba Dlamini
PIETER Dirk Uys is back on home turf. His latest offering, Pieter Dirk: Eish!, is on at the Market Theatre as part of the theatre's 30th birthday celebrations.
Satirist Uys was performer/director/writer at the Market Theatre from 1976 to 1999.
"I will be looking back at the last 30 years of my journey through the minefield of satire and political comedy," says Uys.
"The show will feature former President PW Botha - then and now; Pik Botha in his ANC drag; Evita Bezuidenhout with her three black grandchildren; and Miss Nowell Fine."
A spectrum of new politicians, who don't have quite the same appeal as the old broeders, will also feature. But, says Uys, the comrades do have something to offer and he has a "chorus line" of characters, including Jacob Zuma, who "is worth a few laughs".
"If PW Botha's government wrote me my best material during the 1980s, Thabo Mbeki's democratic comrades have become the best scriptwriters I could wish for now. And freedom of speech also helps."
Evita Bezuidenhout, Uys' alter ego, made her first appearance at the Market Theatre in 1981 in Adapt or Dye and subsequently in Farce about Uys. Evita was created in Uys' Sunday Express column in 1978/1979 during the Info Scandal. One or two of the sketches from Evita's earlier years will be revived for the Market Theatre's birthday.
Uys' involvement with the Market Theatre predates the actual birth of the theatre venue. His play Selle ou Storie was presented by the company at the Blue Fox in Rosebank before it established its foothold in Newtown.
The Market Theatre became Uys' home-base from 1976 to 1990, and it was here that he premiered his new plays Paradise is Closing Down, Karnaval, God's Forgotten, Just like Home and Scorched Earth, among others.
His revues like Strike up the Banned, Info Scandal, Uyscreams with Hot Chocolate Sauce and Total Onslaught also filled the Market's Laager Theatre, the Barney Simon Theatre and the Main Theatre.
During the 1990s he also presented An Audience with Evita Bezuidenhout, A Kiss on Your Koeksisters and The Poggenpoel Sisters, which included both Evita and her sister Bambi Kellermann.
Pieter Dirk: Eish! is on at the Market Theatre's Main Stage on 6 and 7June at 8pm. Tickets cost R109 and are available from Computicket on 011 340 800 or through the Computicket website.
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
