Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
LEGENDARY Zimbabwean actor Zenzo Nyathi is set to give the Kingdom of Eswatini a taste of his talent when he headlines a one-man show, an Act of Man, in the Southern African kingdom on 23 and 24 June.
An Act of Man is a production featuring Nyathi, a renowned, multi-award winning actor, director, producer with over 25 years experience in the performance arts and cultural industries and having featured in over 40 different stage plays by different directors and writers across the globe.
Nyathi has also enjoyed his fair share on the small and big screen fame, featuring in some of the best soapies and movies in Zimbabwe, while also appearing on feature films broadcast on MNET and streaming service SHOWMAX.
He recently became part of the history making Zimbabwean actors to break into AMAZON with their comedy series Bazukuru. He is also a four-time Nama (National Arts Merit Awards) nominee and two-time winner for both stage and the small screen.
Zenzo Nyathi
Previously, Nyathi has taken the play around Zimbabwe, gracing such stages as the Theatre in the Park and the Bulawayo Theatre, where his personality and prowess as an actor have come for particular praise. The theatre piece has in the past been directed by Memory Kumbota.
The one-man play is about a rain diviner who is forced to look not only to ancient traditions but also, to the future to try to come to terms with his own personal misfortunes and the natural disasters of droughts and floods.
Told through a zestful mix of storytelling, mime, dance and song, the one-hander play adventurously interrogates the role that traditional knowledge systems and science play in a fast-changing world and in climate change intervention.
In an interview with a publication in the Kingdom of Eswatini, Nyathi said he was eager to bring some of the explosive energy that he is renowned for to that country.
“I’m excited to bring the show to the Kingdom of Eswatini. It will be my first time to perform there though I have been to Eswatini before so it makes the performances special . . . I am bringing my fire to Eswatini,” he said.
The 43-year-old actor described himself as a person who is “passionate about his work as an actor, trainer and advocacy leader using theatre as a tool to drive pertinent issues within our societies and believes challenges are the work and also believes in evidence-based policies for science plays a vital role in decision making.”
Zenzo Nyathi
In the past, Nyathi has created climate change plays under FANRPAN (Food agriculture natural resources and policy analysis network) in what we dubbed TPA (Theatre for Policy Advocacy). The plays have been shown regionally and internationally, notably at the #COP (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).
He is trained in science communication, climate change leadership and advocacy with TIC (Training Centre in Communication) at the University of Nairobi and is the current vice chairman for the International Theatre Institute (Zimbabwe) with a Diploma in Theology.