Archived Reviews of An Audience with Pieter-Dirk Eish!

REVIEWS of AN AUDIENCE WITH PIETER-DIRK EISH! in CAPE TOWN  
— FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015

Pick an ‘Eish’ character box
Old, New, Borrowed: In ‘An Audience With Pieter-Dirk’ no two shows will ever play out in the same way, or even in the same order of character sketches performed
— Steyn du Toit, Cape Times, 2 March 2015

AN AUDIENCE WITH PIETER-DIRK EISH.
Written and performed Pieter-Dirk Uys. At Theatre on the Bay, Camps Bay, Monday to Friday at 8pm, and Saturday at 5.30pm and 8pm until March 14.

“I AM standing up here today because I used to sit down there,” Pieter-Dirk Uys tells us shortly after appearing on stage dressed in a plain black t-shirt and pair of pants.

Behind him an army of his most iconic characters from the past 50 years are stashed away inside an assortment of numbered boxes, bags and crates.

Cape minstrels, disreputable politicians and, of course, the one and only Divine Mrs. E; each one is poised and ready to pop out with a tale to tell.

Starting by relating to the audience why he originally chose to pursue a career in theatre, Uys’ story is an all too familiar one for those of us who were also exposed to the magic of live performance at an early age.

Not only is it the main reason I personally became an arts journalist, but returning to Artscape’s foyer’s steps as a child busy watching one of their holiday panto productions are one of my most cherished memories.

Effortlessly incorporating references to recent news events, parliamentary skylarking and even a bit of sexual innuendo into his dialogue, any young comedian committed to his craft should be sitting in the front row taking notes directly from Uys.

Loosely adopting the format of  the old Springbok Radio programme Pick a Box, there is no further set script in An Audience with Pieter-Dirk Eish. Instead, individuals are chosen out of the audience to pick a number between one and 19.

Whichever character lurks inside the chosen container is the one Uys will then transform into right before your eyes. No two shows will therefore ever play out in exactly the same way, or even in the same order of character sketches performed.

“Who voted for the NP after 1994?”, he asked us during opening night’s first sketch, or “Are there any gay people in the audience?” during another. Adopting a spirit of inclusivity, the purpose here is not to poke fun at individuals, but to create a relaxed atmosphere in which everyone is able to enjoy him or herself. While Tannie Evita will most certainly give me a ‘snotklap’ for revealing much more, those of Uys’ characters who made appearances during opening night included Groot Krokodil PW Botha, Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman, former foreign minister Pik Botha, kugel Noelle Fine, and, of course, South Africa’s most famous white woman herself.

Among the other persons we missed out on, but who I’m told on good authority are also waiting to be unleashed, are convict Oscar Pistorius, retired Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, German chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as First Lady of Zimbabwe, Grace Mugabe.

While several of his characters’ un-PC jokes won’t necessarily work if performed by another comedian, they do here (including Madiba’s sketch), because we can see without a doubt that they are executed with the best of intentions.

“There are two things I hate about SA. Apartheid and the blacks,” Noelle’s character contradictorily remarks at one point, while during another scene a racist Afrikaner-type can be heard dropping the K-bomb repeatedly.

But it is Uys’ infectious optimism that ultimately trumps all. In addition to his current residency at Theatre on the Bay, earlier this month also saw him, through Tannie Evita, launch a Twitter campaign called #CommitYour Selfie. Proudly holding up her own sign on social media (a notice urging president Zuma to “Pay back the  money”), Tannie Evita asked her followers  to  post  pictures  of themselves while posing with messages  against  government corruption.

“Does history repeat itself and turn tragedy into farce?”, Uys queried in a recent interview ahead of this production’s opening. “Maybe, on some minor levels of stupidity. For instance, the famed Gupta wedding and Nkandla fire pool.”

“But looking at the characters and stories I have lined up — some old, some new, some borrowed and some blue — I don’t really believe that history does repeat itself in SA. It simply rhymes: from apartheid to tripartite; from Amanda to Nkandla!”

Only on until March 14 before moving to Johannesburg, Pieter Toerien’s An Audience with Pieter-Dirk Eish is already the most sought-after invitation in town.

By sequenced hook, or camp crook, do anything you must to secure your seat.

• Tickets: R95 to R165, 0861 915 8000, ww.computicket.com