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ELECTIONS

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articles from 2009

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Keeping Politics in Its Place

– Marianne Thamm, capetheatre.co.za, 26 February 2009 

AFTER almost a quarter century of telling truth to power Pieter-Dirk Uys no longer regards himself as an actor.

“I’m a reactor now,” he explains over a cup of healthy black rooibos tea.

Uys flew into Cape Town from Durban last week for the opening of his new play, “MacBeki – A Farce to be Reckoned With”, at the Little Theatre. The local piece is directed by Chris Weare and features a cast of University of Cape Town drama students.

Uys didn’t linger long in city with at least three more shows of “Elections and Erections” to finish at the Elizabeth Sneddon in Durban before driving up to Jo’burg to start directing a different version of “MacBeki” which opens on March 1 at the Market with a professional cast including Sello Sebostsane, Fezile Mpela, Nthati Moshesh, Arthur Molepo and Coco Merkel.

And while some might think Uys must have acquired supernatural powers — manifesting in three cities at the same time – there’s no need for concern. It’s just with April 22 on the horizon Uys’ creative juices have been churning overtime.

“You know this is a fatal error I make in my life. I have done it before and people have no idea that two things can happen at the same time and be different,” he explains.

So, while Evita and a host of other familiar and newer characters feature in “Elections and Erections” which will tour Jo’burg and Cape Town later, Pieter-Dirk does not feature on stage in “MacBeki”. Of course his text does…but you get the picture.

“MacBeki” is Uys’ reworking of Shakespeare’s tale of ambition, intrigue, fear and loathing. This version is set in Luthuli Castle and the last days of the reign of the old King Maduba. The air is thick with treachery, suspicion and dark dealings as Ramabanquo and MacBeki, with his trusted friend and confidante, Lady Manta, dream of power.

“The play needs to happen in this window. When I wrote it Thabo was still there! And now it is strange to see it performed in this new context where Thabo has been banished and Zuma is the president,” says Uys.

While some knowledge of Shakespeare’s original helps, “MacBeki” can be enjoyed independently of it.

“In Cape Town the students were thrilled with the very fruity, chewy language of the text. It has the cadences and the boggelrug and boepens of Shakespeare’s language but it is not,” says Uys,

“Elections and Erections” on the other hand is vintage Uys. Well, vintage in form; the content of course is written as the day unfolds and as politicians trade insults about garden gnomes and racist imperialists.

“We were so spoiled in 94,” says Uys. “We took it for granted that our politicians would always be thinking people, people who had had 27 years to work it out, people who were not there for the cars and the kak.”

But alas, he laments, “that generation is gone. We are sitting with the legacy of the generation who were liberated before they were educated. Malema is the representation of thinking South Africans of his generation.”

But Uys is still excited about the possibilities.

“We have no idea, we have never had a question mark of such possibility,” he says.

“Elections and Erections” brings together a collection of familiar and new characters including the ANC-supporting Nowell Fine and a few new creations, Karen Van Zyl — a Hillary Clinton body double and chief dog poop scooper at the White House — and Mrs Petersen whom we first met in “Evita For President”

Evita takes over the second part of the show canvassing for Evita’s People’s Party, which she registered with the IEC.

“The show is live from there. It is about politics and people asking questions of politicians. Each night we have guests on stage. In Durban we had Mike Sutcliffe, eTekwini Municipal Manager, and he had to deal with the booing.”

Other guests who faced the public were writer Gcina Mhlope, Anant Singh and the DA’s Dianne Kohler-Barnard.

DA leader, Helen Zille, ID leader, Patricia De Lille and COPE founder, Mbazimba Shilowa, are expected to take to the stage in Joburg.

Uys is determined to create opportunities for members of the public to ask questions of politicians.

“In the US politicians had 18 months to campaign. They had to answer questions every day. Ours won’t even let you ask questions.”

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