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Pieter Dirk Uys 2005alter ego of the most famous white woman in South Africa	Evita Bezuidenhout 2005Photos by Philip de Vos	EVITA SE PERRONDarling StationP.O. Box 175 Darling, 7345, South AfricaBookings: Beryl +27 22 492 2851 / 31Fax: +27 22 492 2831
Pieter-Dirk Uys and his sister, the pianist Tessa Uys

Acclaimed Satirist, Playwright and Author of several books

"Pieter-Dirk Uys was born in Cape Town in 1945 and has outlived official apartheid, which ended in 1994." This is how his CV starts in his website www.Evita.co.za. You will also read a (fictitious) CV on Evita, who is Pieter Dirk Uys as "The most famous white woman in South Africa! " on stage. You will find both at the far-famed little theatre in Darling in the Swartland, and also Bambi Kellerman (Evita's younger sister), Ouma Ossewania, his hundred year old grandmother and other "women".

He studied drama at UCT from 1965 to 1969, leaving with a B.A. (Drama) before studying in the UK at the London Film School. He has been associated with both the Space Theatre in Cape Town and Johannesburg Market Theatre during the 1970s and 1980s, and he has written and performed over 50 plays, revues and one-man shows in South Africa and abroad.
In 1994 he created a 12-part television series 'Funigalore', in which Evita Bezuidenhout interviewed the new democratic leaders, including Nelson Mandela.

Awards and Honours:

Truth and Reconciliation Award in 2001
Mrs Evita Bezuidenhout was awarded the Living Legacy 2000 Award in San Diego USA.
Doctor honoris causa from
Rhodes University: D.Litt. Hon. 1997
the University of Cape Town : D.Litt for distinguished, socially-responsible creative work 2003
the University of the Western Cape : D.Edu.Hon. 2003

HERTZOGPRYS VIR DRAMA Die Hertzogprys is die vernaamste prestigeprys in die Afrikaanse letterkundige w�reld en heet na die groot kampvegter vir Afrikaans, genl. J.B.M. Hertzog. Die prys is beperk tot oorspronklike letterkundige werk in Afrikaans en word jaarliks om die beurt toegeken vir po�sie, drama en verhalende prosa in di� volgorde. Die prys word toegeken op aanbeveling van die Akademie se Letterkundekommissie. Die prys is vanjaar toegeken aan Pieter Dirk Uys vir Stukke teater met inagneming van sy hele oeuvre.

Most of his satirical work is available in South Africa on video.
His plays and one-man shows include:

The texts of the following plays are available as downloads (pdf):
Appassionata, Auditioning Angels, Beyond All Reason, Die Van Aardes van Grootoor, Die Vleiroos, Farce About Uys, God's Forgotten, Going Down Gorgeous, Going to Heaven, Just Like Home, Karnaval, MacBeki, Marshrose, No Space on Long Street, Noël & Marlene, Ouma Ossewania Praat Vuil, Panorama, Paradise is Closing Down, The Rise and Fall of the First Empress Bonaparte, Same Old Story, Scorched Earth, Selle ou Storie, Skote!

The other remarkable thing about the show is how it works on so many different levels: as a musical drag show, as stand-up comedy, as biting political satire, as a tragedy about a fallen woman, as a live cartoon-style commentary on issues of the day, and as pure diversionary entertainment.
Owen Williams on Concentration Camp in Cape Argus

His Books include:

Paradise is closing down and other plays, Penguin, 1989
No more space on Long Street ; Marshrose
A part hate, a part love : the biography of Evita Bezuidenhout
No one's died laughing
Trekking to Teema
Elections & Erections, Struik Publishers, 2003
Between the Devil and the Deep, Struik Publishers, 2005
Evita's Kossie Sikelela / Evita Se Kossie Sikelela, Umuzi, 2010
Evita's Bossie Sikelela / Evita Se Bossie Sikelela, Umuzi, 2010
Evita's Blackbessie / Evita Se BlackBessie, Umuzi, 2011
Essential Evita Bezuidenhout
Die Van Aardes Van Grootoor : 'N Epiese Boeredrama in 780 Episodes, Vyf Bedrywe En Twee Landstale, 2011
Stukke teater, Human & Rousseau, 2015
Weerklink van 'n wanklank: Memoires van toe en nou / The Echo of a Noise: A memoir of then and now, Tafelberg 2018

Information and photos from Peter-Dirk Uys' website

www.StellenboschWriters.com © Rosemarie Breuer

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