REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER
PICTURES BY IHSAAN HAFFEJEE
What a smart move by the artistic director of the Market Theatre Foundation, Greg Homann, to invite Pieter-Dirk Uys (PDU), or, to be exact, his alter-ego, Evita Bezuidenhout, to open their first-ever Queer Festival running from 21 to 25 October.
This new initiative brought together a mix of nine performances across cabaret, drama, live concert, dance and new writing.
“With this inaugural iteration, we enter a bold new chapter, promising a vibrant celebration of identity, resistance and radical joy,” he said. “The Market Theatre has always thrived on being home to the South African story across all backgrounds and experiences. With this festival, we once again make a statement of safe belonging and free expression.”
And the main stage was opened by PDU to a packed audience in the iconic Market Theatre. “It was 35 years since the conception of the much-loved Evita in 1981 at this same venue – when even drag was outlawed – which reminds us how far we’ve come, and still have to go,” Homann said.
Celebrating with Evita @ 91, the decade younger PDU reminded his audience how blessed we are – over and over again. In the past, he’s often gone for the jugular, but he is also quick to praise, emphasizing how much our lives have been affected in a positive way.
After all, for those who followed him from the beginning, we’re aware of the tightrope this Afrikaner boy had to tread as he pulled away from his heritage pointing much more than fingers at the way his elders were running the country.
As usual, Evita@91 has no qualms about speaking her mind. She reminded us time and again where we came from and where we are now, just to put everything into perspective and to remind us to remember the past before jumping to criticise.
She’s as fiery and ferocious with her feminine tongue, and even as she softens her attack with some sassy sweet-talk, there’s no fooling anyone when she decides to speak her mind.
Candour has always been her approach and she’s the Afrikaans woman who never treads lightly and has everyone in stitches as she opens her mouth. If you had any doubt that we are a diverse country who have reached that sweet spot where we can all laugh at ourselves, this was it.
It was a celebratory night of merriment and nostalgia as we could all bask in the 50-year mark The Market had reached and on stage and in the auditorium, it was all visibly displayed.
At 81, PDU is 10 years younger than his colourful alter-ego but neither was holding back. It’s good to see how comfortable this iconic satirist is in his skin and on stage. She/he might reach for a name or two, but that’s the only concession to age visible. A performer who always delivers, never lets you down, force-feeds some harsh truths but never without the sardonic twist which has you smiling at the way he mirrors our foibles.
In a world where conversation has become problematic and truth is what the speaker decides to spin, it is heartwarming to gather with your country’s people and wallow in who we were, where we came from and how pretty we are sitting in today’s global turmoil.
And fitting that, in conclusion, PDU stripped away all the finery of his finest invention and took his final bows as the artist who knew what to do and how to pull it off when the state was his biggest foe.
He is the one who is still having the last laugh.
