$ ! !
VETERAN stage actor Mncedisi Shabangu has at last agreed to work with top director Zuko Nodada in his production after turning him down in the past.
Shabangu will play the character of Jezebomvu in the new made-forTV e.tv rural drama (The Crown).
Dubbed Mzansi s Tyler Perry for his popular local productions, Nodada has been after Shabangu s talent for years.
I want to do my thing quietly. I am actually scared of being on TV every day. When acting on theatre stages people don t run after you at malls asking for autographs,” said Shabangu.
Being on TV makes me nervous. With theatre, you can walk around and no one notices you. In fact, I don t enjoy fame.
I would have turned him down this time round too, were it not for his persistence.”
He said Nodada had called him in the past, but the director s timing clashed with his schedule. That s because the talented actor would be on tour overseas with one of the local plays.
This time, he traced me to the Market Theatre and sent a driver with a 13-episode script,” said Shabangu.
When I was told I had a visitor waiting for me outside, I thought it was someone from overseas. The next thing, I had a contract in my hand.”
According to Shabangu (43): I guess there s no turning back. As I speak, we are shooting on location in Umzimkhulu, on the border between KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.”
said Shabangu, is a drama series about the amaBhaca people in a cycle kingdom. Shabangu plays a ruthless heir denied his ascendency to the throne.
As I am Swazi, the storyline drew me close to the character. It s a small kingdom, but the members of the kingship s inner circle are fiercely fighting among themselves, said Shabangu.
Jezebomvu is fighting for what be believes is rightfully his. He once overhead his mother, the regent queen at the time, in a conversation with royal insiders saying her son was the next king when he was old enough.”
Shabangu said such succession battles and murders go back to the times of King Shaka.
The setting is in a tranquil part of KwaZulu-Natal, with rolling hills, beautiful scenery and landscape, with real kraals,” he said.
The directing is aesthetic and the production is breathtaking.”
But Shabangu has previously worked with Nodada.
They were on opposite sides in the film a 2006 biographical thriller about activists against apartheid.
Shabangu, a nominee for best actor in the 2016 Naledi Awards for his leading role in has been on John Matshikiza s
Other works include
and Catch the first episode of
on e.tv on April 5 at
9pm