Chronicle Editor
Yvonne Ncube, Showbiz Reporter
THEY say dynamite comes in small packages and I can attest that Mzingaye “Mzie” Ngwabi confirms this.
His desire to be seen by millions on various television stations in various homes inspired him to pursue what he is today.
His love for creative art and culture was inspired by his envy of watching his family captivated and mesmerised by characters on television when he was still growing up.
Mzie Ngwabi was only a toddler then and like any child, his dream might have changed as he grew up.
The television set at his family home however, served as a daily reminder and stimulus for what he aspired to accomplish in life.
The more he gazed at it, the more enamoured he became with his fantasy.
Sadly, for all of his primary and secondary school years, his fantasy was dormant until 2016 when it was resurrected at Northlea High School, where he was enrolled for his Advanced Level studies.
Again the dream was brought back to life as he watched the drama club practising for a competition at the school’s hall.
“From a young age, witnessing how much people enjoy watching performers on television, I ended up with this dream of being one of the performers on television watched by millions of people for entertainment, information, education and everything else we get from artistes on television.
“Then, in 2016, when I went to Northlea High School for A-level, I watched the drama club as they prepared for a competition, and I became interested.
I requested to try out for a part and they agreed.
I performed the part to such acclaim that the matron offered me the part permanently.
This is where everything started, or, as I like to call it, the commencement of my journey,” said Mzie in an interview.
Despite the fact that they never won the competition, he added, people admired his enthusiasm and he was elected president of the club.
“After the competition, I officially joined the drama club and in the same year, I was voted in as the drama president.
Unfortunately, during my reign, we never won any final rounds in competitions, but we received applause for our good work. Since other learners loved our performances, we introduced entertainment shows for our school.
“The other pupils welcomed the initiative with open hearts.
They loved us and we became really popular at school such that we even made money through these shows for the school to renovate the school hall,” he said.
In 2017, Ngwabi had to bid farewell to the school and the drama club after completing his A-level.
However, saying goodbye did not sit well with him, so he needed to come up with something that would connect him to the young talent he was leaving behind and thus the Young Artists Development School (Yads) was born.
“So, November 2017 came and it was time for me to move on.
I was done with exams and school was over. Seeing the talent that the club had and all, I decided I was going to take this talent out of school.
I then approached the matron and told her that I’d love to start something for the school drama club, but out of school.
“After consulting, I then came up with the name Young Artists Development School.
This was meant to nurture the talents of young people interested in acting.
“Due to lack of experience as my team and I had just come out of high school, it was very hard to gain the respect and do things the right way, so a lot of mistakes were made.
I made a lot of mistakes that if I was not learning from them during every stage, Yads wouldn’t be where it is today,” said Mzie.
He said his penetration into the professional industry took its peak when they took a play, Mental Asylum, directed by Lesley Masuku to the Bulawayo Theatre.
They later joined Geraldine Roche Drama (GRD) competitions.
“The GRD competitions were good.
We didn’t win on the first round of joining and we were doing quite well up until the end of their season in 2020.
It was a good competition but in 2021 the team decided we’d not join the competition.
“But people needed to be on stage, we needed to be out there and we wanted to work.
Seeing all of this, I came up with a story, turned it into a theatre script and then designed a project around it.
The project was called
Indodakazi/Mwanasikana. It was showcased to six townships in Bulawayo and then the Bulawayo Arts Festival.
It then got three nominations at the Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards.
“During this time, I was approached by an organisation called Yellow World to direct a movie, iKasi The Hood.
I accepted the request and my team performed their hearts out.
The work was voluntary, but it paid off because the movie got national recognition, winning best short film and one team member, Kumbilani Ncube winning best actor in the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama).
“We never won any competition at school, but here we are, almost still the same team winning big in the industry,” he said.
Ngwabi who is guided by the adage “Never undermine or underestimate anyone and no matter the success or failures, always stay true to yourself and your values,” says all his achievements have been uplifted by teamwork.
“I started this journey with Thandolwenkosi Ndlovu, Kumbilani Ncube, Thembela Hlambelo and Rejoice Zivengwa who’re still proving to be better actors every step of the way.
I started under the watch of Mrs Mpofu who was the drama matron at that time and Lesley Masuku who was a peer educator.
“Along the way, we were joined by Tilbert Nkosi, Sidumisile Mthethwa among others.
I cannot talk about a successful journey without mentioning them. I’m forgetting others, but a lot of people have aided in this journey.
“My greatest achievement so far is that after years of trying to gain experience on how to start and run an acting school, we’ve managed to kick-start our first class, the Class of 2022.
This is the greatest achievement for me.
It proves to me that hard work really pays even though it tends to take time at times.
“The only future that I’ve always been thinking of since the formation of Yads is the future of Yads and all the other artistes housed by the organisation.
I want Yads to be a reputable acting school in Zimbabwe recognised even beyond Zimbabwe.
“As an individual, I don’t have any award or nominations, all my achievements so far involve a team.”
Mzie said Indodakazi/Mwanasikana got nominated for best theatre production in the recent RoilBAA and two of its cast members Kumbilani Ncube and Rejoice Zivengwa were nominated for best actor and best actress respectively.
The play also got several nominations at the Midlands Teen Awards and got four awards which were best actress, best theatre production, best writing team and best actor.
IKasi The Hood which was nominated for best short film in the recent Namas got the award and Kumbilani Ncube who was nominated for best actor also got the award.
Despite the fact that the 22-year-old filmmaker and director did not attend any formal school to master all of the methods and secrets of film management, he has achieved enormous success, demonstrating his dedication to the profession.
– @SeehYvonne
Online Reporter