Elections & Erections at the A.R.T.
Provocative Cabaret: Apartheid & Today's Politics
By: Mark Favermann - Apr 13, 2008
ELECTIONS & ERECTIONS
A Chronicle of Fear and Fun
The U.S. PREMIERE
A One person Show
Written and Performed by Pieter-Dirk Uys
April 3 - May 4, 2008
At Zero Arrow Theatre
The American Repertory Theatre
Zero Arrow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Tickets online or call 617.547.8300
Democracy and sex can be very messy. This is the premise of South African Afrikaner satirist Peter-Dirk Uys. He states, "After having had an apartheid government that killed people, we now have in South Africa a democratic government that just lets them die." He is referring to AIDS and the refusal of South Africa's current president Thabo Mbeki and his regime to tell the truth about the disease. AIDS claims the lives of six hundred South Africans each day. Thabo Mbeki is introduced as a ventriloquist's dummy. Up to the moment political and cultural references are sprinkled throughout the performance.
Early on, the playwright/actor talks about his own youthful biracial homosexual experiences in the 1960's adding a touch of personal understanding and sad reflection. As a Afrikaner college student, he came from the ruling prejudiced class. His sexual forays presented him with the dilemmas of Apartheid in a very taboo way on many levels. This was Pieter-Dirk Uys' own door to understanding.
Clearly Elections & Erections is not a simple cabaret show. In fact the layers of meaning, social and political history and cultural friction are far beyond the general entertainment lite of a cabaret. This is serious stuff filtered through the satirist's eye, ear and personality. There is a very thin line between anger and humor stated here.
Autobiographically, Uys (Pronounced "Ace") states that humor has been his weapon of "mass distraction." He has used humor to confront the fear of Apartheid. He sees politicians as monkeys climbing up poles. Accordingly, the higher they climb the pole of ambition, the more their asses can be seen. So, he felt that when those in charge of Apartheid laws painted themselves into a corner, or climbed up the pole, the laugh was on them. He holds this to be true of the contemporary politicians who have followed them as well.
Mr. Uys sees the politicians as the best comedy writers that can be imagined. He sees their hypocrisy as the lubricant of political intercourse. I wish that I had thought up and said that. Some South African politicians were laughed out of power. Since the government writes his material, he feels that today he doesn't pay taxes, but pays royalties. He is far from prejudiced. All governments provide grist for his humor mill. He spares no one or no place in his provocative performance both in drag and as himself. He suffers fools not lightly but well and often makes us either wince or chuckle while extolling their often tragically human flaws and foibles.
Uys, Evita and his other characters (there are at least seven) have something to say about Bill and Hillary, Barack, George W, Robert Mugabe, 90 year old Nelson Mandela and Winnie ( the mother of the nation) Mandela, the state of the world and ourselves. Evita is a little like Dame Edna (the Australian Drag Queen) on a regime of high octane hormones with a cutting edge political swagger. They seem like long lost Commonwealth cousins to me. But, Evita appears to be much, much more. She often awkwardly says what she does not mean and conversely means what she does not correctly express. There is a certain amount of wistful sadness, even a bit of depression and a personal and perhaps cultural regret in the political diva's characterization. Yet she makes us all smile and sometimes even laugh.
The actor also portrays an elderly "colored" woman who was considered too "black" in the old regime and not black enough in the new regime. Metaphorically she sells antiques and junk to make a living. The debris of civilization keeps her and her family going. Provocatively, she is a Muslim. We cringe a bit from her tales. Mother Teresa is performed as a fill-in telephone exchange operator in Heaven. Humorously, she is replacing Marilyn Monroe who is out on strike with other angels. Truth and beauty are presented in this skit in if not profound ways at least in profane ways. Bishop Desmond Tutu appears in all of his giggling glory. Highly ecumenical, there is another character included in the show who is a middle aged, middle class non-reconstructed a bit prejudiced Jewish South African matron. Clearly, Uys is an equal opportunity satirist.
Other portrayals (like Winnie Mandela at an African National Congress meeting), personal stories and asides create a theatrical occassion of thoughtful involvement for the audience. The majority of the best of the A.R.T. productions always seem to try to push the theatrical and entertainment envelope. The audience experience is not always comfortable, the production is not always clearly discernable, but it is always an experience worthwhile in creatively encountering. Pieter-Dirk Uys is a clever, creative, talented performer who fits into the A.R.T. genre very well. Elections & Erections is a show that makes one laugh and also squirm. What better way to be entertained and intellectually stimulated?
If not a tour de force, this production is a forceful tour of a slice of our recent political and cultural history. Elections & Erections is a performance piece that should not be missed.