Exclusive to WeekendSpecial! Pieter-Dirk Uys shares a dressing room with Evita Bezuidenhout at the Theatre on the Bay and finds it a fascinating experience:
P-D U: It is always strange to share a dressing room with the most famous white woman in South Africa. And now that she is also the most recognised white face in the African National Congress, I can only be pleased that I never have to meet her face to face. But the whiff of her perfume is always hanging in the air, that famous blend of soet en suur, sweet and stern: Jeau Mour, a name whispered in a French accent. And so a strict regime has to be followed in the dressing room of the Theatre on the Bay when Mrs Bezuidenhout takes up residence from the 20 June with her latest foray into the minefield of political incorrectness and un-fake news with Evita Bezuidenhout & the Kaktus of Separate Development.
‘The women must recognise the woman and the men must forget the man’
Tannie Evita has been part of the South African political and social scene since 1981, when she burst upon an unsuspecting National Party world in my show Adapt or Dye. She adapted and didn’t die. In fact even though I spend only 2% of my creative time on her, this woman who, even though she doesn’t exist is still very real, has enough opinion to fill a comfortable few hours on stage. I always have to be aware that the danger of performing her might take away from the reality of her existence. She does not perform; she converses. She is seen to think on her feet and often does. I just have to keep my tummy in and be sure that every gesture makes her more believable. The women must recognise the woman and the men must forget the man. So far so good.
Once, standing next to Nelson Mandela in full Bezuidenhout Baroque, this being probably the twentieth time in less than two years at his side after a fundraising gala, I whispered: “President Mandela, every time you see me I’m dressed as Evita Bezuidenhout!” He twinkled and chuckled: ‘Don’t worry, Pieter, I know you’re inside.’
‘Most dangerous experience’
Once she vacates the dressing room on the 1 July, I will be allowed to settle myself in front of that familiar mirror and prepare for a completely different type of onslaught. Whereas Evita keeps two hours filled with energy and surprise, familiar targets and secrets exposed to laughter and shock, as well as awe, I must prepare to sit still and just tell a story. The Echo of a Noise is probably the most dangerous experience I have ever attempted in my 40 years on stage. No props, no costumes, no false eyelashes, not even a dash of perfume to give me the power to be Her. This time I have to just be a Me.
The story behind the stories filled the Theatre on the Bay last year and so I will be back to once again to open the main gates of my life, let down the 71-year-old drawbridge and share a million moments with people who have identified more with that story of my life than with anything else I have ever done. Politics is an acquired taste (or in most cases distaste). Memoir, it seems, is a unique reflection of special memories for the audience. The Echo of a Noise is possibly my finest two hours. With laughs!
What: Evita Bezuidenhout & the Kaktus of Separate Development
Where and when: Theatre on the Bay, 20 June to 1 July
What: The Echo of a Noise
Where and when: Theatre on the Bay, 4 to 15 July
Book: Computicket
WS
