Pieter-Dirk Uys in The Echo of a Noise opens in Johannesburg

Master storyteller Uys returns to Joburg for a limited season with his tender memoir – The Echo of a Noise

Witty, engaging and deeply personal, Pieter-Dirk Uys’s “one-man memoir” The Echo of a Noise returns to Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre from 21 April to 14 May 2023, tracing the journey of how one of South Africa’s national theatre treasures learned to use humour as a “weapon of mass distraction”.

Uys has been entertaining and scandalising audiences since the 1970s, and his characters such as Evita Bezuidenhout and Bambi Kellermann – not to mention his spoofs of apartheid’s rogues’ gallery and his HIV/Aids awareness work – have earned him a place in South African theatre history as one of the nation’s foremost satirists and theatre activists.

Now, in The Echo of a Noise, it’s Uys unpowdered, uncostumed and virtually unplugged – stripped down to a barstool, a beanie and a casual black ensemble but armed with a lifetime of entertaining and often poignant anecdotes about the influences that shaped him and his art.

The show has been staged to much acclaim, laughter and tears since 2016, and now it returns to Johannesburg to enchant audiences anew. No performance is the same, as this master storyteller feeds off each audience’s energy as he strolls through his pageant of memories with its colourful cast of characters.

Meet his father Hannes Uys, his mother Helga Bassel, his grandmothers, his teachers, his passions: Sophia Loren, censorship, false eyelashes and making a noise – a loud, audacious, bitingly funny noise – when everyone demanded silence.

Encounter Pieter-Dirk Uys stripped down and as never before: a man and a satirist shaped by his upbringing, environment and choices – and by the pivotal and sometimes tragic life events that forged him in fire.

There is much humour in these recollections, too, as Uys holds the audience spellbound with this powerful monologue – confirming once again why he remains one of South Africa’s most engaging raconteurs.

Book your seat now for a personal audience with Pieter-Dirk Uys – don’t miss The Echo of a Noise. Performances are on Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Book at Webtickets or contact Geraldine at (011) 511-1988 or geraldine@montetheatre.co.za for discounted school bookings.

MEDIA REVIEWS FOR THE ECHO OF A NOISE

The Echo of a Noise is the most honest and wonderful performance I’ve ever seen him give. He’s a magnificent raconteur – Leslie Stones / Daily Maverick 28.3.2017

Watching this intimate performance was like having a one-on-one conversation with Uys – Karitha Pillay / Witness 23.2.2017

Pieter-Dirk Uys has a knack of knocking life into perspective. Even as we laughed, we left The Echo of a Noise much wiser, with thanks for the gift of this teacher/philosopher/actor/satirist/humourist. Long may Pieter-Dirk Uys remain our moral signpost – Sheila Chisholm / OnChisholm 4.4.2017

For me the show was a revelation of Pieter-Dirk Uys’s considerable courage, humanity, endurance and loyalty – Chris Sutton / Times 27.7.2017

He shared his personal history with such a profound sense of honesty that at times I was moved to tears – Wanda Daly ? Berea Mail 2.7.2017

A national treasure, a theatrical legend, a master craftsman, a constant inspiration – Pieter-Dirk Uys delivers his most poignant and gripping work to date with The Echo of a Noise. He is simply superb. – Billy Suter / Sosuterbill 27.7.2017

The experience of a great comforting hug is perhaps the best way to describe The Echo of a Noise. That hug is an ode to storytelling in service of the theatre and life that helped shape Uys as an all-round creative artist.

He’s engaging, dramatic, poignant, bitingly satirical and hysterically funny – performing the most riveting two hours without an interval. But you barely notice the time. Don’t miss it. – Caroline Smart / Artsmart 27.7 2017

The story he weaves in The Echo of a Noise is funny, sad, poignant and utterly compelling … Uys’s finest work. – Estelle Simkins / Witness 2.8.2017

This is an amazing glimpse into what created one of the most influential performers in South Africa. Uys is a master storyteller whose characters are always entertaining and at the same time often poignant. This wonderful trip down memory lane is a treasure and definitely a show not to be missed – Dawn Heynes / Livewire 8.7.2017

That’s what I took away from The Echo of a Noise – a feeling of solidarity and a night filled with laughter and some tears. And that’s Pieter-Dirk Uys. That’s always been Pieter-Dirk Uys. An artist who has, through the decades, united a very divided South Africa through laughter and later introspection. – Carla Bernardo / Cape Argus 1.12.2016.

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Winners announced on Monday, 17 April 2023.
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