Firstly, any audience member expecting to see a new Evita show will be disappointed.

An Audience with Pieter-Dirk Eish! is literally that - Pieter Dirk onstage with no makeup (most of the time) talking about his life experiences growing up in South Africa and doing sketches of the various characters he has added to his repertoire over the years.

Only every night the show and characters will be different. You see, Pieter has 15 boxes on the stage behind him and each box contains its own story and character. He asks the audience a number of random questions during the course of the show, like “Are you gay?”, “Who is at the theatre for the first time?”, “Who’s thinking about leave the country?”, “Are there any politicians on the audience?” and based on the responses, a person is chosen who can pick a box to open. Thus the show changes every night.

What won’t change is you get to see a national treasure perform – and experience a history lesson that is funny, uplifting and sad at different times. Desmond Tutu will have you in stitches, the story of the Big Issues seller will inspire you, while Pieter-Dirk’s anecdote about his experiences as a young gay man with friends and relationships across the colour barrier is a jerking reminder of the country we once lived in.

But the show doesn’t only reflect upon the past – the sketch of Evita, now a cleaner in parliament, is also as stern reminder of the challenges we face in the present and future. But regardless of the content of the message, it is always conveyed with honesty, tongue in cheek humour and a twinkle in the eye.

On the opening night we enjoy Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlhanthe, baby Julius Malema, PW Botha and Evita Bezuidenhout. I wonder who will come out of the box for your show…

An Audience With Pieter-Dirk Eish! is on at the Baxter Tuesdays to Saturdays at 8:00pm until the 17th of November. Ticket prices are R140.

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