Pieter-Dirk Uys on selling up and Evita’s new look
The lockdown forced Pieter-Dirk Uys to sell his beloved theatre, but now he can take a break and concentrate on giving his alter ego a chic makeover
HE’S ALWAYS felt capable of handling anything life throws at him. “A terminal optimist” is how Pieter-Dirk Uys has often described himself. “Prepare for the worst and hope for the best”: that was his motto and it served him well . . . until a pandemic rolled in.
In the blink of an eye, everything changed. Evita se Perron, his beloved theatre in the little West Coast town of Darling in the Western Cape stood eerily empty and the 220 performances that had been scheduled for the year were all cancelled.
All this he could accept but what broke his heart was that, as the bills piled up, he had no choice but to retrench the 10 staff members who worked at the Perron.
“It was a terrible, terrible experience,” Pieter (75) says. “I mean, some of them had been with me for years.”
As each day went by he felt more desperate.
But to his relief a solution presented itself in the most unlikely of places. While he was out shopping for groceries towards the end of April, he bumped into two friends who run the local toffee business, Darling Sweet.
“I met them in the store, stocking up on toilet paper, and they said to me, ‘Listen, if you ever think of selling the Perron, talk to us.’ I said, ‘We’re talking.’ ”
Within a week he’d handed over the keys. “It was a big burden off my shoulders,” he says.
Although Pieter is no longer the owner, the Perron lives on and the presence of his much-loved alter ego, Evita Bezuidenhout, can still be felt in the venue he built from scratch on the site of a derelict train station 24 years ago.
To his delight, the new owners are retaining the iconic name as well as the museum, art gallery and theatre where he and Evita will always be welcome to take centre stage.
With the Perron in good hands, Pieter has been able to relax and take a welldeserved break.
“It’s the most extraordinary thing when I look at my diary,” he says. “I’m glancing at it now. February 2021 blank. March blank. April blank.”
Ten months down the line, it’s still a luxury to have so much time on his hands.
“For the first time I’ve had a chance to really appreciate my garden, to appreciate every plant, to fall in love with every bird – we’ve got 49 species.”
And with Evita packed away in a box for now, he’s also had the chance to something else he’s been yearning to do for years: grow a beard.
“It’s all white,” he says with a chuckle. “I look like Father Christmas.”
ANOTHER big novelty is being able to see his partner every day. He and Brent Meersman have been together for 15 years but this is the most concentrated period they’ve ever spent together.
During the day they give each other space. Brent (53), a writer and journalist, disappears to his corner of their old Victorian home to work while Pieter writes or reads or does a spot of gardening. eir three cats and two dogs love having them home full time, Pieter says.
“At four in the afternoon we sit with our kitties and talk and play Scrabble – there’s nothing like Scrabble to keep your mind fresh.”
For the sake of his sanity, he’s stopped reading newspapers – he used to devour four a day to prepare for his shows – and he’s also cut down on the amount of time he spends on social media.
Pieter also hasn’t had a drop of booze in the past 10 months. He took the decision to quit at the start of lockdown because he knew there’d be times he’d feel frustrated and feared alcohol would fuel his anger and make everything worse.
He desperately misses dinner parties with friends but he knows that as he’s in his seventies he can’t afford to take any chances.
Barring a few trips to Cape Town for check-ups with his doctor and dentist, he’s largely confined himself to his home in Darling. “Every day feels like Tuesday,” he quips. But jokes aside, there are times he feels depressed. “On some days my dials are down. When that happens I put a David Attenborough disc into my DVD machine.”
There’s nothing better for lifting a sense of hopelessness than sitting back and seeing how ants just get on with things or how lions look after their cubs, Pieter says.
He also draws comfort from his interactions with the people of Darling. It’s always been a tight-knit community but the pandemic has brought residents even closer and he and his neighbours regularly phone one another to check in.
And there are also his weekly calls with Sophia Loren to look forward to. He’s been friends with the Italian screen legend for decades.
“It’s been interesting through this whole lockdown to talk to Sophia,” he says.
At 86, she also can’t risk being exposed to the virus so she’s isolating herself in her apartment in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Sophia is frightened. She needs to talk and we’ve had some wonderful chats.”
He sends her cat memes to cheer her up, he adds.
But isn’t it time he stopped loafing and got back to work? He did three online shows last year that received a good response, so why not do more?
Pieter says that although it was fun doing the shows it felt strange being alone in a tiny studio. He missed seeing his audience.
Besides, with Covid still wreaking havoc there isn’t much to laugh about these days.
“There’s nothing funny about any of this,” he says.
THIS doesn’t mean he’s been idle though. He’s been using the time to write a satirical history book and a new show for Evita. Pieter has also masterminded a whole new look for the 85-year-old former Ambassatrix to Bopetikosweti.
Inspired by the likes of screen legends Helen Mirren and Judi Dench, he’s given Evita a total makeover, which has seen her ditching her dark, curly locks and adopting a chic short grey hairdo. Pieter hopes it won’t be too long before he can don Evita’s new wig and bring her back to life on stage but he’s accepted this won’t happen until the vaccine is rolled out.
“I depend on the vaccine to make an audience sit in my theatre and not be scared if somebody poeps or coughs or sneezes,” he says.
He has no reservations about getting the jab. “I’ll happily bare my arm, look the other way and think of my cat while they put the needle in.”
The vaccine brings the hope of a return to normalcy and he can’t wait. “It’ll be so nice to actually have an audience and rush into the foyer afterwards and do selfies with fans,” Pieter says.
And he can’t wait to be able to travel again to places such as London, Berlin and Paris and see his friends.
“And Geneva too,” he adds. “To see Sophia and give her a big hug.”
‘I depend on the vaccine to make an audience sit in my theatre and not be scared’