Sibusisiwe Gugu Manqele - A Kaleidoscope of Talent
The entertainment industry has roles for many talents. Sibusisiwe Gugu Manqele’s span the full spectrum.
BY HANS MACKENZIE MAIN | May 2024
The Zoom screen on which the interview was held was split into two, but, speaking with multidisciplinary and recently voted one of South Africa’s top 200 young people by the Mail and Guardian, Sibusisiwe Gugu Manqele, it was quickly clear that she is someone who sees the bigger picture. Raised in Ulundi in rural KwaZulu-Natal some distance from the nearest city, Sibusisiwe’s path to the centre of South Africa’s entertainment industry took many turns.
“I have a very interesting background with school and the arts,” she explained, dressed in a multicoloured shirt and purple glasses with, not too far behind her, a meticulously arranged bookcase. “And I think it should inspire anybody who has it in their heart [to pursue the arts] and to connect the dots in different ways, because different is unique.”
The different way in which those dots were connected involved letters instead of a stage as Sibusisiwe, at first, found her inner artist’s voice in silence while writing.
“My first love had to be performing, what I found as the thing that I wanted to do. But I was not active as a performer in primary school except for poetry speaking – my voice always filled the room – and writing. In high school, English and history were my subjects.
“There were no arts offered in the school, but the same writing followed me through. There was a businesswoman writing competition in Durban. I was pulled in as two of the representatives from the school and won it. Unlike in primary school where I did poetry speaking, I did not do any performing in high school and my mind was set on going to Wits. Going to Johannesburg.”
Our interview picked up speed and I was soon to be treated to Sibusisiwe’s talent for storytelling. As with writing, she credits storytelling with pulling her into the arts and helping her see and relate to the world. Applying to Wits School of Arts was a story all on its own.
“You have to audition to be accepted by Wits,” she said. “Because I had not done performance art in high school, I decided not to do something for the audition that I wasn’t already experienced at. At school, we were doing the novel, Shades, I think, and there was a character I liked called Francis, and that is what I chose as my audition and there you can see the writer coming out.
“And so, at Wits, as the other performers came out with their big costumes, I came out with my matric jacket and did a poem – you also had to do a poem – and they loved it, they loved the voice. When it came to performing, they asked, ‘What are you going to perform?’ and I said I had a piece from Shades, the novel. I told them I adapted it and was going to perform the character Francis. The room went ‘Oh, okay’, but I performed – and got in. That was really me being a writer first and connecting the dots to become a performer. That was me always carving my own way for things I did not even have a vocabulary for.”
Sibusisiwe went on to earn a BA in Dramatic Arts (Honours equivalent), and an Honours in Creative Writing and MA in Film and Television (Screenwriting) at University of the Witwatersrand. She is currently a PhD candidate in Culture, Communication and Media Studies (CCMS) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
It’s a formidable, even intimidating, list of qualifications that could put anyone off with the arts not front-of-mind as a viable career option. Luckily, Sibusisiwe has some wonderful news.
“When I went to Wits, [I saw that] so many people came from different backgrounds [to join the arts]. Different streams like accounting, and then they were, like, this is what I always wanted to do. I’ve given them a degree, they would say, and now this, the arts, this is what I always wanted to do.”
“It’s a beautiful career,” she went on. “It really is. We make a lot of things for humanity. We contribute so much.”
Although her education was in the arts and gave her the theoretical background on how to make art, it was knowledge of how things worked behind the scenes that gave her the keys to make a living out of art.
“In terms of my upbringing, I come from Ulundi where I did not have exposure to theatre. The biggest thing I could see where people were performing was TV.
“And although I later learned that each show was followed by the credits where one can read the different people who worked on the show, I was not aware of it then. And so, it was only later that I came to know that there is a whole crew behind making a show and that there is a production element to it.”
The curtains truly opened as her early career took her from being a translator to a production assistant and beyond.
“I even did reality television on the production side of Big Brother, and I became Digital Content Director for Channel O and Vuzu TV and then I became Promo Director, which got me back to storytelling as, now, I am directing voice over artists and writing scripts. I love stories. I will remember stories and forget a name.”
As far as real-world advice goes, a performer and writer who is also the CEO of a content-producing company called CONTENTWOOD has much to share.
“I always say it is about access and knowledge. Of course, get an education but if you do not see it, you do not know how to dream it. And being multidisciplinary is a very good trait to have.
“The arts can be very seasonal. In being multidisciplinary, you can create work for yourself. Nobody is fully living off being a performer, so they venture into different things to earn an income and that is the business of arts that is not really being taught but needs to be taught somehow.” But it does not stop there. Sibusisiwe combines arts and business with emotional intelligence and self-knowledge and a clear picture of what she wants. It is a powerful combination and one that has taken her far.
“It is your intentions that build your career. So, for me, those intentions were clear. If your intentions are always pure in terms of, this is where I want to go in terms of my career, the dots do connect, and you find yourself.”
I asked Sibusisiwe to share a bit on finding a balance in life. She dismissed the word ‘balance’ and opted for ‘harmony’ instead, which is unsurprising from someone who clearly hears the music.
“As an artist, you deal with a lot of emotion,” she explained. “But you also need rationale and logical reasoning. Dream as big as you can but have your masterplan. Make decisions, and then act. Have discipline and manage your time effectively. And look after yourself. Make sure that you get your rest. Harmonise. Multiple streams of income are all good and well, but you also need multiple streams of mental health.”
On the topic of life hacks, her response centred around the intangibles that form the foundation of a successful life. “One of my biggest things is gratitude,” she said. “I stay very present in every day acknowledging the now and being thankful for what I have.”
I pressed Sibusisiwe on how she keeps fit and ready to take on the many challenges life throws at her. The answer I received knocked me back a little, although, thankfully, not by Sibusisiwe herself.
“With intention, I’ve decided to take up boxing,” she said leaning somewhat menacingly towards the webcam, “I love boxing.”
Fighting words, but would you expect anything less from a multidisciplinary, multi-credited artist?
SIBUSISIWE’S CREDITS
Screenwriting Credits
• Gomora seasons one and two
• House of Zwide season one
• Umkhokha season two
• SABC 1’s educational drama series: Skeem Saam season eleven and twelve.
Playwright Credits
• YINI? / WHAT IS IT?
• Migration of the Heart
Directorial Credits
• PASS OVER as an Assistant Director. The play successfully ran at the Market Theatre for Black History Month in 2021.
Production Credits
• Big Brother Africa, Big Brother Mzansi and Big Brother Angola
• She independently produced a short film, Questions, which was screened in Paris at the Communicating Multi-Modally: Research & Expressive Culture in May 2022.
• She had a lead role in Intersexions 2 in 2013, and a feature role in Saints and Sinners 1 on Mzansi Magic.
• She was also a guest presenter on SABC 1’s YOTV Crib Notes.
Business Credits
• CEO of CONTENTWOOD, a content-producing company
ROLES TO PURSUE IN ENTERTAINMENT
Actor – portrays a character in a production
Director – controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualises the screenplay, while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision
Producer – plans and coordinates various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, directing, editing and arranging financing
Cinematographer – also called the director of photography, this is the chief of the camera responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece
Screenwriter – develops story concepts, brainstorms ideas and creates compelling stories
Art Director – supervises and unifies the vision of an artistic production
Animator – an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation
Makeup Artist – applies makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film and fashion
Social Media Manager – organises and plans the social media presence of a show