Has 10 years of democracy made the South African satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys go soft? Palpably not. The title of his brilliant new one-man show may be inspired, as he says, "by the two things that were illegal during most of my life", but he is as harsh on President Thabo Mbeki, particularly his indifference to the Aids pandemic, as he ever was on apartheid.
What is impressive about the new 90-minute show is the way it combines simplicity of form with richness of content. Appearing before us in black rehearsal gear, Uys uses minimal props and costumes to offer a tour d'horizon of South Africa past and present.
A jabbing forefinger and a jutting jaw turns him into an apocalyptic PW Botha. Applying lipgloss and false eyelashes, Uys effortlessly becomes Evita Bezuidenhout, who has adjusted comfortably from white supremacy to ANC domination. Later, he hilariously metamorphoses into a rich Jewish matriarch who has adopted a black boy but still complains about the charge on supermarket shopping bags. "Ten years ago," she moans, "we paid for condoms and got the bags free - and now it's vice versa."
The great thing about Uys is his moral discrimination. While welcoming democracy and paying tribute to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, he remains passionately angry about the inertia that allows 600 people a day to die of Aids. He mercilessly mocks Mbeki for his ceaseless travelling and support for Robert Mugabe.
Some say Uys has forsaken his comic role to turn into a crusader. In fact, he is still sharply funny about the monstrosities of the old South Africa, where the rule was "love your neighbour but don't get caught", and the contradictions of the new. When he tried to find his way to an ANC rally in Bloemfontein, he finally recognised it, he says, by the line of Mercedes-Benzes outside. And Uys's attacks on Mbeki's attitude to Aids, especially, prove that satire can be a positive force for good.
· Until May 29. Box office: 0870 429 6883.
