Online Reporter
Bruce Ndlovu
Society Reporter
WHEN the stage play “The Members” makes its debut on June 10 at Theatre in the Park in Harare, it will mark the return of two legends whose work has shaped productions in Zimbabwe over the past four decades.
The first is Memory Kumbota, a performer extraordinaire who has not set foot on stage for the last decade.
His most recent performance was alongside writer and director Raisedon Baya in Mayford Sibanda’s “Umbiko KaMadlenya” more than 10 years ago.
This Game of Thrones-style tale of ambition, betrayal and royal family feuds won the 2015 National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) for Outstanding Theatre Production, while Kumbota was crowned Outstanding Actor that year.
Since then, he has stepped back from performing, focusing instead on mentoring young actors and continuing his work as a director.
Now, after more than a decade away, Kumbota is preparing for a comeback.
But this is no ordinary return.
He has chosen “The Members”, a play written by the late Cont Mhlanga, as the production to revive his stage career.
For Kumbota, this choice is deeply personal, as Mhlanga — the founder of Amakhosi — was a major influence during the early stages of his career.
He emphasises that his absence from the stage was deliberate.
“My last stage performance was in the multi-NAMA award-winning ‘Umbiko KaMadlenya’, written by Thabani Moyo, directed by Nelson Mapako and produced by Raisedon Baya, about 10 years ago. From then on, I focused on actor training, which has always been a deep passion, as well as directing and sometimes devising plays,” he said.
Although he stepped away from theatre, Kumbota remained active in the creative sector, taking on film and television acting and directing roles.
His decision to leave stage acting, he explained, was a conscious one, born out of reflection on his craft and career.
“To me, stage acting is a craft with bigger and more immediate demands compared to film and television. I needed that break to teach more, to direct while teaching, which is my personal process and directorial approach. This gave me time to experiment with, explore and test acting methods — a process I am still engaged in,” he said.
Far from idle, his time away from the spotlight was filled with research and training.
He even co-authored a text on stage acting with playwright Thabani H. Moyo, further cementing his contribution to the craft.
“In that process, I have co-written a text on the craft of stage acting with Thabani H. Moyo. My purpose, therefore, was not to leave stage acting forever,” he explained.
Kumbota has long been vocal about what he considers a major shortcoming in Zimbabwean theatre; the scarcity of mature actors portraying mature characters.
His return, he noted, is part of a revolution he hopes to see in the industry. If he has his way, older actors will not be put out to pasture but will instead fill roles tailor-made for their age and experience.
“My long-stated criticism of our theatre has been the lack of mature actors playing mature characters. As long as we have actors 10 or more years younger than the characters they are playing, it is no longer about truthful characterisation; it is merely role play. We need more mature, trained and experienced senior actors to play senior roles,” he said.
The thespian believes that age and experience bring a level of authenticity that cannot be manufactured.
“Just as, at 50 or 60 years of age, playing a 20-year-old would be less than truthful characterisation, the reverse is also true,” he explained.
Consequently, Kumbota never intended his departure from the stage to be permanent. Instead, he was waiting for a role that carried enough weight and meaning to justify his return.
“As one grows more experienced and mature, picking acting roles is no longer just about choosing an exciting part. It becomes about accepting work that carries demand, challenge and meaning,” he said.
He found exactly that in “The Members”.
“The reason I accepted this role in ‘The Members’ is that it holds a lot of personal significance for me. It is an opportunity to honour the memory of my brother, mentor and director, Cont Mhlanga. This marks a return to stage acting that has been a long time coming and there is more work in the pipeline in the coming months,” he said.
Preparing for the role has required him to revisit the same principles he has spent years teaching aspiring actors.
“The process of preparing for a role involves intellectual, psychological and emotional work as one breaks down the script and delves into the universe of the character and story. This is what I teach, so for me, it is a matter of applying the tools I am already familiar with,” he said.
Despite the passage of time, Kumbota believes he remains physically capable of meeting the demands of the stage.
“Physically, I am always in shape. Luckily, my body has not succumbed to age. In my directing and teaching, I go through the exercises and movements with the younger actors, as I prefer to show and share rather than instruct from a distance,” he said.
Yet, even for a veteran actor, the pressure remains. There is another challenge, too. In “The Members”, Kumbota steps into a role previously inhabited by actors he greatly admired.
“The pressure is always there to do the best one can, to do justice to the text and to respect the audience — which those I teach know is our mantra,” he said.
“An added pressure is acting a character you have seen other great actors perform — people you admired and looked up to. The trick here is to provide your own interpretation and representation. An actor only lends their own psychological, intellectual, emotional and physical self to the character, so no two representations will ever be the same.”
