Pieter-Dirk Uys presents Adapt or Fly, Heritage Day 2020, South Africa livestream
✅ Direct booking link: https://qkt.io/pieter-dirk-uys-presents-adapt-or-fly
✅ Tickets: R70 + R5 service fee
Adapt or Fly went out as a live stream show, from Penny Lane Studios in Cape Town, South Africa on Heritage Day, September 24, 2020 at 6pm. The recording of the show is available as video-on demand, via Quicket, until Saturday September 26, 7pm (CAT – Central African Time).
This is the 3rd lockdown streamed show, presented by South Africa’s legendary satirist, Pieter-Dirk Uys. The show marks his 75th milestone birthday – on September 28. Uys mentions his birthday as he wraps up this poignant look back at South Africa, on Heritage Day in the time of these strange days of Covid. He says: “In four days’ time- I am 75 years old, going on 12. Our democracy is 26 years old. We are in a really tough place now. Just cross your fingers – obey the rules. There will be life after all this…. “
We see this maestro theatre maker transform in front of our eyes into the politicians who have provided him with his best lines. Uys: “I want to thank politicians for being the best script writers for over 40 years – from Apartheid to now …” As he mused in his previous lockdown show, President Cyril Ramaphosa is not going to be a target for his shtick as he is busy working. For now, he will not go into the box of props for Uys to draw on. I think that shows the inherent humanity of Uys. He is a humanist who loves his country and his respect is something that he holds on to fiercely. He may snipe at corruption and the madness but with it all – and that- and this comes across profoundly through his character Nowell Fine – there is nowhere like home. Pieter Dirk-Uys would not swap South Africa for anywhere else.
On Heritage Day 2020 – or Braai Day- as it is widely referred to – it is inspiring to watch this show. As always Uys tugs at the patronal and political in terms of his work as an artist and how he was shaped by his upbringing in Apartheid South Africa, his parents’ lives and their histories. We must always laugh at our fears, urges Uys and as we shuffle along, living with the pandemic, that is going to be a critical stress release – the fall-out from lockdown – corruption – and all the rest. Just imagine all the commissions of enquiries that are sure to come our way. In the middle of that – we need to be mindful of our heritage- always. September 24 has become Braai Day for many and it is cool to chill and have a barbie as the Aussies say, but how did we get here and where are we headed.
Today, we were in Kommetjie, Cape Town at Long Beach. As I stood sanitising my hands, I was asked by a woman who looked like she was in her mid-20s (hard to say as the mask makes it difficult to assess), to please explain the difference between Braai Day and Heritage Day and are they the same thing. She thanked me and told me that she couldn’t work it out and was embarrassed to ask others. So she asked a stranger, in a mask to explain. I could not see her face and she could not see mine. True story.
The leitmotif of Adapt or Fly is heritage and the importance of engaging with the past in order to navigate the present. Uys says: “Heritage is an important reality – because for your children- what you do today, will be their heritage tomorrow.” As always, he is upbeat – cautiously upbeat: “At least we have our constitution. Freedom of speech, freedom of expression.”
Article links to Pieter-Dirk Uys on TheCapeRobyn:
