I
enjoyed the book so much the first time, that I have since re-read it twice!
(Review by Caroline Smart)
For well
over 40 years, Pieter-Dirk Uys has carved his way into South African
consciousness through his theatre work, writing and campaigning. The focus of
his work has been South African politics as well as local and international
social issues. All this he has carried out with a powerful mixture of satire,
honesty and directness.
To date,
he’s appeared in solo performances (ie alone on stage) over 7,000 times. He has
written 33 plays, 46 revues, 12 novels and memoirs, and two cookery books. He
has appeared in 18 documentaries, feature films and television specials.
He has
also created the most famous white woman in South Africa, Evita Bezuidenhout.
She is his sternest critic and, as he says, is – “a legend in her own
lunchtime”, with her own Evita’s Free
Speech every Sunday on You Tube; Monday on The Daily Maverick.
His
acute observations of human nature are behind his power of storytelling.
Reading The Echo of a Noise – A Memoir of
Then and Now, gives you the feeling that he is sitting comfortably right
next to you, taking you through the story of his life. I enjoyed the book so
much the first time that I have since re-read it twice!
The book
is dedicated to “that smile which helped change the world,” the caption that
accompanies a photograph of him with Nelson Mandela with whom he built a
lasting friendship.
(A young Pieter-Dirk Uys at the piano with his
father)
Uys (now
72) grew up in Pinelands in the Cape. His parents were highly musical – his
father, Hannes Uys, was a choral director, organist/pianist and was a natural
jazz musician. A dour man, he did not make life easy for the young Pieter who
wanted to go on the stage. A highly-skilled and superior pianist than her
husband, Uys’ mother, Helga Bassel, was well-known in her own right. Her
suicide devastated him and he always wished he had known more about her
experiences in Nazi Germany during the war.
Tessa
Uys, Pieter-Dirk’s sister, inherited her parents’ musical genes and followed a
successful career as a celebrated international solo pianist before she
returned to South Africa where she now lives in Cape Town.
Uys
constantly acknowledges the integral part played by his home and foundation
with his family. Two other major influences were his grandmothers but special
support came from Tan’ Sannie, their housekeeper, who later became his father's carer.
He was an
angelic-looking boy soprano and sang in choirs and at weddings and on the radio.
His first experience of theatre was at high school in 1962 when his class was
taken to Cape Town see a production of King
Lear – his first experience to Shakespeare and a production in English. He
was over-awed by the stage lights and described the actors as “gods and
goddesses in wonderful clothes”.
He decided,
against his father’s wishes to take a drama degree and enrolled at UCT. He says
everything he learnt about theatre was through working in the Hofmeyr Theatre
in the evenings as an usher, watching performances every night.
As his
life progressed, he started spreading his wings as a writer and actor. He was a
risk taker – flouting the Publications Control Board and eventually persuaded
his father to join the censor board which was mainly made up of members of the
Broederbond. Hannes gave Pieter-Dirk a perfect piece of advice – “Don’t allow
them to frighten you, Pietie. Make fun of them. Maak hulle belaglik (ridiculous).”
And so
he did exactly that – going forth with a determined boldness despite the
delicate situation in which he was surrounded.
As well as Nelson Mandela, major influences in his life were film stars Marlene
Dietrich and Sophia Loren, the latter with whom he fell in love as a youngster
and they have kept in touch across the world all these years.
Uys has
achieved multiple awards and accolades but he doesn’t parade himself in public.
There is a private side one doesn’t see, so this book is a rare glimpse into
his life - family relationships, struggles, sorrows, disappointments and
successes but overall it charts his determination to let the public know about
things that aren’t right.
Thankfully,
this book avoids being a standard chronological style of biography as his
thoughts wander from the past to the present and back again. It includes many delightful
and memorable quotes. When asked what he does, he calls on a recurring theme
throughout the book: “I build sandcastles when the tide is out”. Another
comment is “Live theatre is one of the few inspiring things not yet in a tin or
on a disc or in the Cloud.
Memorable
sections are when he proudly takes part in the first democratic election and
was able to “queue up with anybody”. The pages he devotes to the death of his mother
and, later, his father are moving and beautifully handled.
While
researching the memoir and “exposing the small signposts” of his childhood, he
reveals that he has “come to know the most difficult character among the eighty
or so I have performed on stage in my chorus line of creatures, clowns and
criminals. Me.”
He says
he is “still an usher but also a stage manager, theatre owner, dramatist,
satirist, `drag queen’ (for those who don’t realise that the proper word is `actor’),
publicist, optimist and eighty people on stage.”
All I
can say is - thank heavens, Pieter-Dirk Uys is still going strong!
The Echo of a Noise – A Memoir of Then and
Now is published
by Tafelberg. Retail price R280. EAN: 9780624086918 – Caroline Smart
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