Pieter-Dirk Uys will always be remembered for his first one-man show that opened on April Fool’s Day 1981, Adapt or Dye.
Pieter-Dirk Uys will always be remembered for his first one-man show that opened on April Fool’s Day 1981, Adapt or Dye.
"Adapt or die" was the phrase used by Prime Minister PW Botha when he announced his proposed revisions of apartheid policies as a prelude to the 1981 General Election, which was still for whites only. Uys began his onslaught against the politically correct racist regime at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, then toured the rest of South Africa and went overseas with his show.
Adapt or Dye was the first locally produced video recording of a Market Theatre performance, in 1982, to be introduced through video hire shops and those few outlets that had the courage to make the comedy available. Its essence was humour: fighting fear with laughter 30 years ago.
This year will see Pieter-Dirk Uys close the bracket with a new onslaught against a politically correct regime with Adapt or Fly, in the Rainbow Democracy's 18th year.
Everything in our country has changed, and yet some things seem to be the same old story. Poverty, violence, crime, corruption, media control, confusion and fear were the realities of life during the 1980s. Has history repeated itself in some areas and turned tragedy into farce?
At the height of the Malema speak on the nationalisation of mines and land-grabs of farms, which frightened many people into near panic, a spokesperson for the ANC Youth League was heard to suggest that if whites did not like the fact that the youth would take over South Africa, then they could go somewhere else: ‘Adapt or fly!’
The Adapt or Fly show is coming to Grahamstown for three nights and will be performed at the Rhodes Theatre on 15, 16 and 17 February at 7pm.
Tickets cost R120 or R60 for students and are available from:
Cathy Braans PR at 24 African Street in Grahamstown (046 622 7896), or
Pam Golding Properties at the Rosehill Mall (opposite Clicks) and Shop 5 Heritage Mall in Port Alfred.
