Pieter-Dirk Uys turns 80 with laughter, legacy, and a double bill at Artscape

Cape Talk's Pippa Hudson chats to theatre icon, satirist and social activist Pieter-Dirk Uys.

Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below:

As iconic satirist and theatre legend Pieter-Dirk Uys approaches his 80th birthday later this month, Cape Town audiences are in for a treat: a double-bill celebration at the Artscape Theatre. 

Featuring 'No Space on Long Street' and 'African Times', the productions revisit both the radical roots and imagined futures of South African theatre - with all the wit, sharp edges, and political prods we’ve come to expect from Uys (and his alter ego, Tannie Evita).

The two productions capture the arc of his storytelling: 'No Space on Long Street' pays tribute to the rebellious spirit of the 1970s Space Theatre, while 'African Times' imagines a dystopian, not-so-impossible political future. 

Still performing regularly and busy writing Evita’s "autobiography," Uys insists that reaching 80 is no excuse to slow down. 

"I've got lots of plans for the next few months, few years. My year used to have 365 days, now my year has two days - today and tomorrow. It's been life changing."

- Pieter-Dirk Uys, theatre icon, satirist and social activist 

"People keep on saying by the age of 80, you lose the short-term memory...no, I don't lose anything, actually. I don't want to remember everything sometimes. It's been quite a liberation. The audition is over, the disease to please has been cured, and I don't have to explain or apologise for anything because I just can say I'm terribly sorry, but I'm too old to remember."

- Pieter-Dirk Uys, theatre icon, satirist and social activist 

"Comedy is a wonderful thing; I love jokes. Humour means you laugh at fear, and that's what I've been doing in my work - is make people laugh at the things they didn't even want to think about, and I think the world is in a really rotten place, but then again, bad news makes money..."

- Pieter-Dirk Uys, theatre icon, satirist and social activist 

Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.