Meet actor with a smile for the ladies
WHEN he opens his mouth to sing, his voice is penetrating and steering, and when he gets into character and performs his skill can likely give the worst of critics a good streak of goosebumps.
With a lean frame, light skin and a smirk to catch the ladies, Ronald Sigeca is a young man set to take on the arts industry by its neck and go for the kill. Having been discovered by Raisedon Baya, Sigeca has been a consistent face at the Live Literature Programme at Intwasa Arts Festivals and the lad seems to get better with age like wine.
“I started doing drama at Msiteli High School when I was in Form 2. It’s funny because I used to laugh at the ‘drama people’ before I was invited to come and join them. They invited me simply because I am loud,” says Sigeca as he tells the story of how he has come up in the arts.
“In my first stage performance with the school, Baya was in the audience and after the show he asked to talk to me — that’s when he invited me to join Schools Playwriters and Actors Academy (Spaa) which is now known as the Centre for Talent Development,” he added.
Sigeca considers his performance in four National Arts Merit Awardswinning play Umbiko kaMadlenya as one of his greatest achievements thus far. The play was adopted for stage by Thabani Moyo and directed by Nelson Mapako. Bathabile Dhlamini scooped the award for outstanding actress, Memory Kumbota (outstanding actor) and Nelson Mapako (outstanding director) for the play while the play itself UMbiko KaMadlenya by Intwasa Arts Festival KoBulawayo was adjudged the Outstanding Theatrical Production.
“The other achievements I have had so far include being part of the cast of upcoming Ndebele TV drama called Insuku zokucina and playing a lead role in a movie called The Bicycle Thief, he pointed out.
Over his short stint in theatre, Sigeca has featured in productions which include Flat dwellers, The Sun Will Rise Again, Master Harold and the Boys, Broken Mirrors, Dancing in the Dust, Insuku zokucina and Bulawayo at 120 production among others.
Having had made his impact at Intwasa, the 22-year-old actor is grateful for all the roles and opportunities he has been afforded.
“In this year’s Intwasa I had many roles because I did almost every show with CTD and I really liked each of them. My favourite role is when I play Jeremiah in The Sun Will Rise Again. However, every character has had a different level of energy and it has pushed me to be versatile and play around with my creativity while playing these characters,” he revealed.
Sigeca dreams big and wants to himself in Hollywood someday.
“I aim higher — so my wish is to be in Hollywood sometime in the future. I do believe anything is possible and in just a day big dreams can be unfolded into realities. I definitely am working hard on improving my strengths to be bigger in the next five years,” he pointed out.
Ronald is currently not studying but hopes to resume his studies next year in February.
“I go to church and I am God fearing. I do have a social life but for me God is my lead,” he noted.
The youngster, whose inspiration included Oliver Mtukudzi and an actor named Leeroy from South Africa, is set to take be a force to be reckoned with in the very near future. find