Laughter is Liberation – Pieter Dirk Uys

As I frantically hobbled up the stairs of the Hilton Hotel hot on the heels of a recent back injury, to meet theatre meastro Pieter Dirk Uys, I nervously glanced at my watch. I was a few minutes late, and wondered whether this would be the type of thing deemed unecceptable by someone of his calibre.

To be in Uys’s stratosphere and not be caught up in his buzz, for an 80s child who grew up in awe of the ‘white man who plays a white tannie’, is all but impossible. Uys threw us Evita Bezuidenhoudt in the midst of apartheid South Africa, long before Hollywood heavyweight Robin Williams’ Mrs Doubtfire or Tyler Perry’s Madea, ever could. He was funny. He was fearless. He was satire.

And he still is.

Within seconds of the meeting, I sat transfixed; 68-year-old Uys is theatre in motion. Flamboyant, expressive and animated. I asked him whether his life was a constant case of ‘lights, camera and action’.

“Essentially, Uys on and off stage is the same person. When one fully embraces art, that becomes inevitable. To not only survive but be relevant in today’s competitive market requires a certain perseverance,” he explains, and then adds flippantly, “I’ve been unemployed since 1975… But I’m still standing!”

Surprisingly enough, Uys was not trained as an actor. “I was actually trained as a stage director, which may seem strange now but, in actual fact, gave me a more rounded, full circle approach to arts. I’m knowleadgeable about the stage, but also understand the importance of marketing and public relations. With the entertainment industry being so fickle and competitive, one must strive for an edge. As a result, even though my stage career took a hiatus, I’ve authored novels, I’ve written plays. The trick is to stay busy, and keep developing your craft.”

His most memorable character, Evita Bezuidenhoudt, was created in 1980, in the throes of the South African apartheid regime, and became an infamous satirical character, who through ‘her’ antics, spoke candidly about issues pertaining to social and political injustices faced at that time.

“As a flamboyant homosexual man, transferring my creative energy into Evita’s character came effortlessly. I am fascinated by women. Their strength, their abilities to broach so called ‘serious’ topics with grace, and humour… But in retrospect, Evita’s popularity came from her fearlesness and honesty with regard to the various injustices faced in South Africa through the goverment of that time. Her one son was openely homosexual, her other son was a member of the AWB… And through the platform I created, by making Evita a national spokesperson of sorts, I had the opportunity to speak about the multitude of social concerns I wanted to address,” explains Uys.

In particular, it is apathy, especially from the youth that concerns him the most. “What is most disturbing is the general disinterest that prevails amongst our youth. You find young people who refuse to vote. Young people who prefer to develop their respective skills and plough them into international countries, as opposed to their country of birth. There is a general lack of faith. And this is not just a solitary case, this is cross border occurance. Why? Because we were supposed to stand up and make our voices heard while our humanity as a people was threathened. Because when our goverment ‘rectified’ the evils from our past, the issues were swept under the rug. This refusal to acknowledge what happened, and where we came from, created this disjointed, unconnectedness to ourselves as a people.”

Uys, as a satirical comedic actor remains passionate about the relevance of satire. “First of all, the difference between a stand up comedian and satire is that a comedic actor’s job is to make people laugh, my job is to make people laugh by reminding them of issues that pose a threat to our social and political survival. Julius Malema, for example, in my view is a satirical artist. He has found a very particular niche. He realises that his appeal lies in his ability to come across as ridiculous in certain ways. This is a man, who by no means lives below the breadline, yet has an incredibly big following amongst people struggling with poverty. He is interesting because of the madness of his regime, and has positioned himself as a spokesperson for the poor. The general attitude is, ‘if he can do it, we can do it’. And that has an incredibly appealing factor.”

Yet, for a country that went through the Truth and Reconcilliation Commison, South Africa is a country laced with riots and subtle unrest. Uys has this to say: “On the one hand you have a country that has been given this enormous gift, namely the legacy of Mandela, yet our current political environment and politicians don’t fit the bill. People are angry, they are still awaiting promises made during independence, and politicians have a ‘clever’ way of degrading democracy in a way that we find socially acceptable. What we have taken for granted in that freedom is a full time job. It is important to acknowledge this. To discuss it. To speak up against those who challenge this. And what satire does is give a platform, where the people can find something funny about the situation, as opposed to depression or more anger.”

So what type of future does he envision for himself and the social and political landscape?

“This is the first time I’ve been in Namibia in 30 years, but it is striking how much similarity there is between what I call the ‘born frees’ in South Africa and here in Namibia. Firstly, I think we remind ourselves where we came from. We need to make peace with the past. This is the only way to move forward in a concious way, and to avoid the same pitfalls. Apartheid was stupid, but we fell for it. We need to embrace freedom of speech… And as artists, we need to use theatre as a weapon of humour. There is power there. There is liberation through laughter.”