The Echo of a Noice

Mr Uys, F@k is spelt with an F not a V!

by Jaco du Plessis

If there is something we South African’s know how to do, it is to laugh at ourselves. We always see the funny side of this rainbow nation of ours, and one man has been a leading force behind some of the best, yet sometimes controversial laughs. Pieter-Dirk Uys stands like a tall monument when it comes to South African comedy, enjoying a career that spans more than half a century. In his latest show, Echoes of a Noise, Pieter lets us into his world and where it all started for the beloved 71 year old satirist, author and social activist.

The theatre is abuzz with excitement as the lights dim and a single spotlight illuminates the lone stool on the stage. There is no doubt where our attention would be focused for the next 90 minutes and Uys doesn’t disappoint. No one could look away as he grabbed you by the hand and opened the top drawer of his father’s writing desk – “in case something terrible happens, grab the drawer and run to the neighbours”.

Uys introduces us to the people who helped mould him into the man he is today, there is Pa, Hannes Uys, his German born mother Helga Bassel, his childhood nanny and his sweatheart crush, the beautiful Sophia Loren. Uys reveal aspects about his life in the theatre, what you can and couldn’t do in the Apartheid South Africa, and his love, or lack thereof, for the Censor Board.

The stories wrap around you like the warmth of a fireplace in winter. Suddenly, I’m not in the theatre anymore, Uys manages to take you into his childhood sitting room in Pinelands, Cape Town . This stirs up my own personal memories of Sunday afternoons at my grandparents’ house listening to all the stories from their lives. The memories make us laugh as we relive some of his best inspirational moments, and then something happened that I never thought would… Uys jerks at my heart strings as he recalls a personal tragedy and tears start to well in my eyes. This is the power of Pieter-Dirk Uys, he breaks down barriers with his gift, whether it be racial, political or emotional.

This show is a great memoir to the life that has brought so many memories, so many ground breaking shows, and has given us one of the most iconic woman in South Africa, Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout. I kept on wondering when she would make an appearance, what is a Pieter-Dirk Uys show without her? And then like only he can Pieter-Dirk makes his biggest echo of a noise, the lady we have come to love and adore, and with the brightest shade of red on the lips, we come full circle.