Award-winning satirist is recognised
SANDTON – Legendary Pieter Dirk-Uys honoured for a lifetime of satire.
Since the 60s, Pieter-Dirk Uys has been poking fun at the country’s past while finding hilarious ways to ensure it progresses positively.
The satirist, performer, author and social activist was recognised for his ample contributions to the arts at the 19th annual ACT Awards.
This Theatre Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed upon Uys at a glittering Sophiatown-themed awards ceremony at Sun International’s The Maslow Hotel in Johannesburg.
Closely associated with both the Space Theatre in Cape Town and Johannesburg’s Market Theatre during the 70s and 80s, Uys has written and performed 20 plays and more than 30 revues and one-man shows throughout South Africa and abroad.
Over the years, Uys and his celebrated character Evita Bezuidenhout, have received a bevy of awards for their theatrical work and their humanitarian efforts. Uys was awarded South Africa’s prestigious Truth and Reconciliation Award in 2001. He has received honorary degrees from Rhodes University, the University of Cape Town, the University of the Western Cape and the University of the Witwatersrand.
Uys believes that without art the world would be a very different place. “Art is the oxygen, culture is the calcium, without them, any society would be without breath or movement,” he said.
Always up for a challenge, Uys believes that the highlight of his career is ‘survival in spite of all the pitfalls and dongas of life’. He believes that failure is essential to success. “Without them, there is no eventual award,” he concluded.
Read: Pieter-Dirk Uys pokes fun at politicians
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