Popular Tshivenda drama actor Mr Thomas Mashudu Romani is a humorous and humble artist who spends most of his spare time quenching the acting thirst of youngsters in his communities.
Ramani is prominently known for his current role as Doctor Marema Maragalala in the Phalaphala FM drama I kho khidzhana. His acting his career started over two decades ago when he was a pupil at Dimbanyika Secondary School at Ha-Raliphaswa.
In 1994, he joined a group of his peers who performed various school dramas. By that time the naïve young actor realised that acting and performing arts, specifically poetry and traditional parades, were his unique talent that could become his lifetime career. “I joined the drama group at school and we used to perform dramas from our school books,” he said.
In 1998 he shot a movie based on the book The hill of false with some of his peers. The movie was recorded using VHS (video home system) cameras. At the time, most households in his community didn’t own television sets and that meant his movie did not survive, since it was recorded and produced in rural communities.
Romani did not stop there. He continued with his acting journey, performing poetry and dramas during various events in the Venda region. In 2006, he started acquiring roles in some of the dramas on Phalaphala FM. Since then, his career has been stable.
Romani has been nurturing the talent of youngsters in this region over the past 10 years. In 2004, he started teaching acting at Frank Ravele Secondary School in Divhani village and he assists the Takalani orphanage with acting lessons.
He spends his spare time training the children who are passionate about arts at those schools. “I had a burning desire to nurture the talent of the young ones, especially from my communities,” he said.
Mr Muthuadini Neswiswi, a teacher at Frank Ravele Secondary school, described Romani as a passionate actor who establishes and grooms young talent with ease. “I have worked with him over the past 10 years and one of the children we helped is studying music and is a talented poet,” said Neswiswi.
During the recent chief’s inauguration at Mauluma village, he performed some of his dramas and poetry with the children he is currently teaching from Frank Ravele Secondary School.
