Thobani Nzuza is a South African dramatist, actor, director, vocalist, and African dancer best known for her role as Mdeni in the Mzansi Magic drama series eHostela. She is now starring as Chuma on Isitha. Born in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Umlazi, he began his creative career in a community arts center in 2010 under the mentorship of Buhle ‘Bo’ Mlazi. He graduated from Durban’s King Shaka High School in 2011 and went on to Durban University of Technology the following year, where he specialized in acting.
Silencing the Hurricanes by Themi Venturas, his first professional work, premiered in Bangkok in 2014. Thobani also wrote and directed Shintsha Guluva for the Isigcawu Festival in 2014, for which he was awarded Best Director. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Durban Mercury Theatre Awards in 2015 for his performance in Menzi Mkhwane’s Secret Valley of the Great Kings.
In the same year, he wrote his first one-man show, Boy Ntulikazi, with Kagiso Tsimakwane, which he directed, acted in, and subsequently published. The play was nominated for several awards, including Best Actor at the 2015 Isigcawu Festival, Best Production at the 2017 Baxter Zabalaza Theatre Festival in Cape Town, and Best Community Production at the South African Theatre Magazine Awards.
ADVERTISEMENT
In 2016, Thobani performed in Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Debbie Lutge, during a Shakespeare festival in Germany (Folkwang Universität der Künste).
In 2018, he made his television debut in the Mzansi Magic drama series eHostela, which follows two brothers who, along with their father, manage a powerful and hidden organisation out of a worker’s hostel.
ADVERTISEMENT
