21 Feb 2016

Thembani Mpapho (26) has been privileged to have had an outstanding mentor who helped unearth his talent at a tender age of 15.

Who would have guessed then that the young Masunga -born would go on to become an actor, poet, writer, director as well as the owner of General Arts Creations.

“I was a clown by then.  I would stand in front of the students in class` and start giving poetic lines just to get their attention and also unwind their minds with comic stories after a hectic day in school,’’ he said in an interview.

The multi-talented Mpapho said that he never dreamt of being a businessman rather his eyes were set on being a soldier. His mentor, who inspired him was his agriculture teacher at Selepa Community Junior Secondary School, Nthubu Mpundo.

The young Mpapho said that he directed the Ghetto artists from 2011 to 2014, won an award for the best poet during Presidential competitions. He has also been performing in different events such as Maun International Poetry festival and starred in Bloody Valentine movie. “The performing arts industry is the most paying job and I am attracted to creativity and making money, but life is not always a bed of roses,” he noted.

He said one needs to use their talent and constantly reinvent themselves and do something they love as it is the key and winning recipe for success. “I live theatre. I do it all day round and the creative industry is a tool of behavioral change which reflects real life situations as well as educating and entertaining. It has also changed almost 90 per cent of my behavior,” he said.

“I look forward to building an arts centre with an auditorium, hire 500 artistes and make talented youth live their dreams and diversify the economy of this country through quality skilled artistic work,” he said.

He concluded by saying that they are currently working on a television comedy and radio drama which will be released next month and he urged Batswana to support local artistes. Ends