With dreams of being an actor from as early as Grade 2, Gamelihle Bovana is certainly on the right track as he fulfills his dreams.
As he casually explained that Gamelihle means ‘nice name’, Bovana proceeded to share his acting journey thus far with the Rosebank Killarney Gazette.
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The 32-year-old born and raised in East London came to Johannesburg in 2009 at the beginning of his studies at the University of Witwatersrand. Bovana studied drama at Wits and graduated in 2014 and has been active in the industry ever since.
Looking back, Bovana said what really sealed the deal for him was when he was in Grade 2, hanging around after school one day when his transport was running late.
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“I had no choice but to wait around the school and while I was walking around the school, I walked up to the school hall. I peeped through the door and saw the teacher leading a group of children through what I didn’t recognise at the time as acting exercises. I stood by the door for about ten minutes watching and got so enamoured by it. Thereafter I asked the teacher what I needed to do to join and that’s when the deal was sealed.”
Now at the National Children’s Theatre in Parktown, Bovana says the theatre is a very special organisation to him because they gave him his very first professional break. In the NCT’s current production, Hope the Rhino, Bovana plays the role of a game ranger.
Sharing some of the many highlights of his professional journey, Bovana said the opportunity to give people a chance to forget whatever they are going through in life, and transport those people to a different world is a highlight for him. “One particularly bright highlight was my winning my first and thus far only, Naledi Theatre Award a year and a half into this profession, as a professional. My goal is just to be able to say, ‘I did it’. Getting to perform at the State Theatre would be another perspective highlight for me.”
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Looking forward, Bovana hopes to direct a production of his own, write his own plays and be at the helm of a podcast that is dedicated to uplifting arts in this country.
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