Pieter Bosch Botha

Pieter Howes
Born	(1985-03-12) March 12, 1985 Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Other names	Pieter Bosch Botha
Alma mater	National School of the Arts 1999 - 2003
Occupation	Activist Actor, Theatre Director, Playwright, Script Writer
Years active	2003-present
Awards	Standard Bank Ovation Award

Pieter Howes (born 12 March 1985), also known by his stage name, Pieter Bosch Botha, is a South African actor, theatre director, playwright and television scriptwriter. He is an activist for social justice and racial literacy. Pieter is a prominent commentator on politics and society.^[1][2] Before his work as an activist, Pieter spent 13 years in the entertainment industry. He played a lead role in the popular SABC 2 television series, Soul Buddyz, directed by Bobby Heaney.^[3] In 2009 he portrayed the controversial character, Lammetjie Koekemoer, on KykNet's popular daily soap opera, Villa Rosa. He also had guest appearances on e.tv's soap opera, Backstage, and the SABC2 sitcom, Askies!. In 2013 he appeared in Nicholas Spagnoletti's play, Civil Parting, which was performed in Ireland at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival and later won the Standard Bank Ovation Award^[4] at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Early life

Bosch Botha was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, as the son of renowned actors At Botha and Annelise Bosch, who were members of the now defunct Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal (PACT).^[5] He has been active in the performing arts industry since the age of six, when he landed the lead role in a national Opel Monza car commercial. As a result of his parents' involvement with PACT, as well as being regular actors for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), he developed a love for film, television and theatre at a very young age. He completed Drama and Theatre studies at the National School of the Arts where he graduated in 2003 with a drama practical score of 100% in his final year, and was hailed as one of the Top 8 students. In the same year he received the awards for Best Comic Performer and Best Ensemble Piece.^[6] He also received national full colours for drama for three years in a row.

In 1998 and 1999, Bosch Botha completed an internship as a personal assistant to director, Janice Honeyman, whilst working on her productions of Snow White and the 7 Dofs^[7] and Cinders and her Fella.^[8]

Career

Bosch Botha completed studies in drama and theatre at the National School of the Arts in 2003, training under the guidance of Yvette Hardie (now President of ASSITEJ International), Terrence Bridgette, Karin van der Laag, and David Stevenson (now a director for the Royal Opera House in London). Whilst in his final year of training he landed a lead role in the SABC 2 youth drama, Soul Buddyz,^[9] directed by Bobby Heaney. The following year he made his professional debut at the People's Theatre, Johannesburg, in Jack and the Beanstalk.

In 2005 he played the role of Kamerheer in Bartho Smit's, Die Keiser, at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. He then embarked on a two-year long national tour with multiple educational theatre productions, namely Trio Turbulence, I Choose / Ek Kies, Coming Out Again and Hooked on Books. At the end of his tour he returned to the People's Theatre to perform in Cinderella. In 2006, during a break from a national tour, he portrayed the angel Gabriel in Lizz Meiring's sell-out comedy, Dames en Here, at Aardklop Arts Festival.

In 2007, Bosch Botha was appointed to the position of resident director at the Roodepoort Civic Theatre. During his tenure he mounted acclaimed productions of Rapunzel (2007), James and the Giant Peach (2008), Madiba Magic (2008), Liewe Heksie (2008), and Danny the Champion of the World (2009). He then left the Roodepoort Civic Theatre to pursue a freelance career directing productions in both English and Afrikaans. These include, Rooikappie, Wasgoed, Roald Dahl's The Witches for the University of Pretoria,^[10] The Cage Fighter, I’ll Have What She’s Having..., Of Birds and Beasts, and Subject to Citizen.

In 2008 and 2009 he portrayed the controversial character, Lammetjie Koekemoer, on KykNet's popular daily soap opera, Villa Rosa.^[11] He also had guest appearances on e.tv's soap opera, Backstage, and the SABC2 sitcom, Askies!. Later that year he joined the star-studded cast of the musical review Spoof Full of Sugar at the Theatre on the Square,^[12][13] and also performed in the off-the-wall cabaret Eat Me!, directed by Lionel Newton. In 2009, Bosch Botha directed Neels Clasen in Little Blue Dress and also a group of soap opera stars in Michael Frayn's farce, Noises Off!.^[14] He created and directed the physical theatre performance, Hats, which received high critical acclaim^[15] and consistently played to full houses during a national tour of South Africa which lasted for 5 years. Hats was also commissioned to be presented in Afrikaans, as Hoedens, at the 2011 Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees, and went on to be hailed as the highest grossing physical theatre production at the National Arts Festival in both 2010 and 2012. He played Hendrik van Rooyen in the satirical short film, The Van Rooyens, which was an online webisode.^[16]

Bosch Botha co-created and directed, Rose Red, a one-woman show written by and starring Dianne Simpson, which was performed in Grahamstown, Cape Town and Johannesburg in 2011. He wrote and directed the highly acclaimed environmental activism play, Swoop, which enjoyed a sell-out runs at the Kalk Bay Theatre in 2012 and in Grahamstown in 2013.^[17] In 2012, Bosch Botha played 36 characters in Becky Mode’s Off-Broadway one-man comedy, Fully Committed, for which his portrayal received unanimous critical acclaim.^[18][19] In 2013 he appeared in Nicholas Spagnoletti's play, Civil Parting, which was performed in Ireland at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival and later won the Standard Bank Ovation Award^[20] at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. He played the villain in Travis Taute's, The Briefcase, which went on to win the Audience Choice Award at the Shnit International Film Festival.^[21]

In 2014 he traveled to the Seychelles to play Dave Bukatinsky in Terrence McNally's musical, The Full Monty. He also played Sir Lancelot in Spamalot. In 2015, Bosch Botha performed Patrick Suskind's one man play, The Double Bass, directed by Alan Swerdlow.^[22][23] Later that year it was announced that he would produce and direct a South African production of Roberto Athayde's Broadway hit, Miss Margarida's Way for the National Arts Festival's Main programme.^[24] Later in 2015 he played the lead role in the Afrikaans RSG radio play, Nagrit Op Keetmanshoop.

Bosch Botha was a regular television scriptwriter for KykNet's popular daily soap opera, Villa Rosa, in 2014 and 2015 until the series came to an end after 11 years in production.

Community work

Bosch Botha is passionate about the preservation of theatre in South Africa. In 2011 he moved to Cape Town, where he worked with ASSITEJ South Africa, a local branch of ASSITEJ International, which is a global organisation that promotes access to high quality theatre for children and young people. During this time he facilitated weekly drama workshops with children from the Vrygrond community near Muizenberg, as well as taking large groups of underprivileged children to theatres in and around Cape Town to experience live performance for the first time.^[25]

In 2013 he traveled to Port Elizabeth to serve as a creative consultant for the P.E. Opera House, as part of a mentorship program initiated by the National Arts Festival. Here he worked with a group of young actors from the local community to develop skills and knowledge to bring their work up to professional standard.^[26]

He is an activist for gay rights and some of his articles on the subject have been published.^[27] He also advocates for Black Equality, supports Black Consciousness movements and is actively engaged in a continuous dialogue around the awareness of terms such as White Privilege, White Fragility and Whiteness in an attempt to bring about an understanding of these terms within the white community.

Political activism

Bosch Botha also advocates for Black Equality, supports Black Consciousness movements and is actively engaged in a continuous dialogue around the awareness of terms such as White Monopoly Capital ^[28], White Privilege, White Fragility and Whiteness in an attempt to bring about an understanding of these terms within the white community.^[29]

Personal life

Bosch Botha is married to medical doctor, Craig Howes. He has a sister named Helena, a holistic healer, and a brother, Johan, who is a celebrated fine artist. He is the son of renowned actors, At Botha and Annelise Bosch.

References