A stage of dreams awaits aspiring actor – Banele Mthembu
A local teen who always dreamed of becoming an actor got the opportunity of a lifetime when he recently landed a part in the Stellenbosch Woordfees after competing in the National Acting Competition.
MBOMBELA – Hoërskool Bergvlam’s very own Banele Mthembu, a grade 11 pupil, attended the competition in Cape Town from May 11 to 13, and was despite all odds, awarded a role.
Stellenbosch University’s Woordfees has acquired stage adaptation and performance rights to novel Vlerke vir Almal by Marion Erskine, published by Human and Rousseau, an imprint of NB Publishers. The stage adaptation will be performed at the Woordfees in 2018.
The cast will feature well-known actors alongside the chosen high school pupils who excelled at the National Acting Competition, one of whom will be Banele.
He was spotted by acting coach, Francis van Niekerk when she directed the school’s production, Step Out.
“She asked me to take part in the competition, along with two other learners she coached from other schools, and I jumped at the opportunity,” he said.
Banele told the newspaper about the miraculous weekend.
“I went on stage on the very first day as part of the top 60, but I did not even make it to the top 30 by the end of the first night there. I was disappointed, but I though, oh well, Cape Town! I just enjoyed every bit of my time there.”
On the second day, he participated in a radio workshop, but hence his elimination, he was not eligible for an audition.
“I was sad to not have had the opportunity, but once again, Cape Town! I explored it and just took in the beauty around me.”
‘The next day he received a call, asking him to come for a call-back audition.
“I did not know what to expect. They had us doing a piece of practised prose, and then gave us each a character to portray. Then we were asked to do an improvisation as a group. The next thing I know, I am awarded a role, in Afrikaans! I am playing ‘Beesbals’ a character who is fun and always in everyone’s business. I am basically playing, myself.”
Banele attended Laerskool Bergland before advancing to the double-medium, Hoërskool Bergvlam. He said, “The Afrikaans was not difficult, it is like getting back into a second skin really. I am comfortable with it.”
He will start rehearsals for his role with the rest of the actors in December.
