Uys excels with his out-of-the-box show

FIFTEEN cardboard boxes on stage. Each filled with characters and stories. And Pieter-Dirk Uys.

That's all the visual staging required to turn his latest show into an evening to be talked about long after the fact.

Uys will be in Nelson Mandela Bay next week to perform two shows and launch his new book, Panorama.

Now in his late 60s, Uys vividly recalls South Africa's recent history and is one of the most up-to-date people on today's politics. He engages his audiences, speaking to the young, the expat, the gay and the "gatvol".

An Audience with Pieter-Dirk EISH is just that. With the choice of 15 boxes on stage, a member of the audience chooses a number.

Out come characters and entertainment that could be either a drama, a comedy, a farce or a shocking expose.

Uys is on stage sharing a life that reflects the lives of so many of his audience – memorable experiences growing up in South Africa then and now – and doing sketches of various characters and their unique stories, some of them harking back to that dark past; most of them trying to make sense of the future.

Every night, the show and the characters are different.

Still inspired by his scriptwriters, the government of the day, Uys takes a night to present his life in theatre with some of the 80 characters from his 40 years in the political arena, brandishing his weapon of mass distraction: humour.

The shows take place at the Boardwalk Amphitheatre on Thursday and Friday next week at 7.30pm. Booking is through Computicket with tickets at R150.

The book launch takes place at Kiplings Restaurant at the Boardwalk Hotel on Thursday at 5pm. Book with Michelle Brown on (041)581 6424. Cash bar available.