Chronicle Editor
Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Reporter
AFTER failing to clinch an award in past editions of the Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards (BAA) and the recently rebranded Midlands Teen Royalty Awards, the heavens have finally smiled down upon actor Kumbilani Ncube.
The actor is slowly becoming a force to reckon with in the acting industry as he bagged the Outstanding Actor award at the recently held National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) 20th edition.
Ncube who has appeared in short films that include Ikasi The Hood, Debt Clearance and Unfortunate Victims is a passionate creative with a flair for taking on complex characters in drama genres.
Dedicated to building a connection between the audience and characters through extensive studying, research and preparation of the character given is a simple depiction of Ncube.
His other successful appearances have been on plays Indodakazi/Mwanasikana, Sheet Live and Legend of the Black Heroine.
Chronicle Showbiz caught up with Ncube who opened up on how he developed a passion for arts.
“I started acting back in primary school, but then, it was just for fun. My drama teacher would prepare short plays for us, some of whose scripts she would take from the Bible. Some were educational while others were merely comedies to present to the rest of the school on events like family fun days and speech and prize giving days.
“Moving on to high school, I joined the drama club again and it was then that I realised how passionate I was about acting. We’d attend school competitions. All this was a learning curve for me,” said Ncube.
He said his transfer from Embakwe High School in Plumtree to Northlea High in Bulawayo was a blessing in disguise.
“The Northlea High drama club was much more enhanced and equipped with a lot of good actors. This challenged me to upgrade my acting skills and that’s exactly what I did.
“Just like at Embakwe High, we would go for competitions as well but we never really got the results that satisfied us and as a result this pushed us to start our own acting organisation, Young Artists Development School (Yads) in 2017,” said Ncube.
He said the organisation at that time was meant to try and correct the errors and biases in the arts industry, something that he feels till this day remains a huge challenge.
“In the course of its running, we created plays we would stage like The Black Forest, True Colours, Age of Consent, Drug Abuse and Umhlaba – a set book created for Northlea High School students.
“We went on to create a play called The Mental Asylum which didn’t do well because of poor marketing. We then collaborated with Sarudzai Nyandoro from WILD in producing a play called Sheet love which was a success,” said Ncube.
The actor said he also worked with Geraldine Roche Drama where he was cast in two of their Winter Festival plays and three short films.
“After that, we ventured into the Indodakazi/Mwanasikana project with the Indodakazi/Mwanasikana play. Recently, I was cast in a play by Intwasa called The Legend of the Black Heroine.
“I was also fortunate to be cast in a short film called Debt Clearance by Roc Media and a feature film called Ikasi the hood. From this production, I was nominated for a Nama and got the Outstanding actor award.”
Not slowing down, Ncube has joined rising casting agency, Becky Castings and has highlighted that more is to come as he continues to develop his acting skills. – @mthabisi_mthire
Online Reporter