Languages: 
A WSU alumnus who pursued acting to overcome his cripplingly shy nature has made minor inroads in the industry following a handful of features in some of the country’s leading television shows.
Centane-born Aubrey Tshevu, an internal auditing graduate from the university’s Butterworth Campus, has had his face beamed across millions of some of the country’s households following his features in television series such as ‘The Queen’, ‘Rhythm City’, ‘Gomora’, and ‘Lingatshoni’.
“I was somewhat shy in my younger days so to overcome my shyness I firstly joined debating and quickly found out it wasn’t for me, I then joined the Drama Society and instantly fell in love with acting. I have fond memories of my days in Butterworth Campus as part of the drama society” said Tshevu.
Acting came naturally to Tshevu, who in his first year would be awarded the Drama Society’s ‘Newcomer of the Year’ before scooping the ‘Actor of the Year’ award the following year.
His passion and talent, coupled with the ever-growing accolades, would see him being eventually nominated as the society’s chairperson, a position he’d use to propel the society to greater heights through the participation and winning of big acting competitions.
‘’Following my installation as chairperson, we participated in numerous competitions including the Grahamstown Arts Festival, a festival at Vaal University of Technology where we brought back a big trophy, as well as a competition at the University of Venda where again we brought home first prize,” said Tshevu.
Acting has also served as an escape from a grim reality for the budding actor, who’d often attend rehearsals on an empty stomach because of hunger owing to his dire situation at home which would see him receiving inadequate pocket money.
He said his worries and misfortunes would momentarily subside once rehearsals were afoot, a phenomenon he owed to “passion and contentment overtaking the dilapidating effects of hunger”.
“I love acting because it touches on aspects of the human psyche and experience, including opening up the imagination and letting it run wild. The feeling of being someone else and living a different fantasy and experience from that of your, which in my case could be depressing, was often liberating and indeed made my university experience bearable,” said Tshevu.
He encouraged students to participate and immerse themselves in student development-centred activities and extra murals that can unearth a student’s talent that could otherwise remain untapped.
Tshevu currently works at one of the country’s major banks as a finance administrator, however, he has aspirations of pursuing studies in the arts so he can hone his talent and equip himself with the necessary technical abilities found in the classic arts.
By Thando Cezula
