Nama award winner Bathabile promises more

01 Mar, 2015 - 02:03 0 Views

The Sunday News

Bruce Chimani Sunday Leisure Correspondent
AT just 23 years, Bathabile Dlamini has set a very good theatre record for herself after recently winning the country’s best actress award in the theatre category of the National Arts Merit Awards for her role as Zinkabi in the Nelson Mapako-directed UMbiko kaMadlenya. She said although her nomination was just enough recognition, winning the gong was a surprise that confirmed her as the country’s top actresses and said it spurred her to work even harder in the arts industry.

The play was shown at the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo last September and it managed to win the hearts of many theatre lovers.
The play is an adaptation of a novel with the same name written by the late Mayford Sibanda in 1981. The play is a reincarnation of the Ndebele tale, set in 1871, two years after King Mzilikazi’s death. It is a narrative of events which unfolded after the Ndebele nation had remained without a king for two years.

The immediate successor to the throne is Nkulumane, but he is nowhere to be found after he was “sent” back to Zululand by his father Mzilikazi who was angry that he was installed as king by some mischievous chiefs who thought he had died while on their way to present Zimbabwe during the Mfecane era.

True to her word, credit for the award shouldn’t be given to individuals but to the team. And it is not surprising that the play Umbiko kaMadlenya was the toast of the night as it scooped almost everything that was on offer theatrically. Perhaps because of the historically rich and academically relevant storyline and the way it was presented coupled, of course, with the talent that the cast exhibited in their different roles.

In short those that saw the play live were not surprised with the way it performed at the Namas. It was expected.
Batha, as she is commonly known, is an ambitious second year Journalism and Media Studies student at the National University of Science and Technology, whose dreams are to invade the media and arts industry in the coming years.

Sunday Leisure Correspondent, Bruce Chimani spoke to her at length and excerpts of the interview are below.
BC: Congratulations on your award Batha. Can you just share with us your thoughts on it — what is running through your mind?
BD: It’s been my greatest achievement. It is something very motivating and it has just stirred me to work hard to achieve my dreams. I cannot express enough how it feels to have your work noticed and recognised by people.

BC: Were you expecting the award?
BD: Not really. I did work consciously hard to aim for the Namas though — but when I saw who I was in competition with, I was intimidated and thought to myself that just the nomination was a huge achievement — so I was going to Harare to have fun and meet new people. Then it happened that I won — I wasn’t expecting it but I am delighted.

BC: How were you cast into the play?
BD: I was auditioned and that is how I got the role.

BC: My first impression of Zinkabi is that she is a very scary, strange and powerful woman. She reminded me more of Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. What are your impressions of Zinkabi, your character?
BD: She is really a strong woman and that is one reason I like her. Independent women are amazing and more so with the time that she lived — she must have been quiet an anomally.

BC: What does your family think of what you do?
BD: They are very supportive, I must say. My mother is always eager to hear how things are going with rehearsals and so forth and it’s very encouraging having them backing me up — I feel secure in my spot.

BC: Who have been some of your heroes and your inspiration?
BD: My directors and teachers in theatre have been great. Thabani Moyo, who introduced me to theatre when I was still in high school, has played a big role in my artistry.

Because I am involved in various segments of art, I do have different inspirations. Lupita Amondi Nyong’o is an actress I look up to. Beyonce’s sense of go-getting is also a very huge inspiration for me I must say.

BC: Interesting. So where do you see yourself five years from now?
BD: I think five years from now I will be quite visible in the media as a producer and a TV personality. That is what I am aiming for.

BC: What have been some of the challenges you have faced?
BD: It’s just the old-age problem of finances in the arts industry. Most people in the industry are pretty much working from a passion more than anything because your input might not equal the financial output that you get — so it has to be something that you love to do.

BC: Where would you say the local theatre has done well so far?
BD: Just the commitment that people have put in spite of the impeding challenges is really awesome. I look at someone like Raisedon Baya and the successes we see at Intwasa in such harsh economic conditions. That’s our legacy there – that our passion outran everything in such dire circumstances.

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