Northlink College students on the small screen

Olivia Pika (Left), ex-Northlink College Drama Student, and Julian van der Westhuizen (right), an ex-Northlink College Drama Student with Theodore Jantjies (middle) another ex-Northlink College Drama Student and currently playing the role of Xander Meintjies in 7de Laan

Olivia Pika and Julian van de Westhuizen, ex-Northlink College Tygerberg Campus students, were recently seen on the set of the ever popular South African soapie, 7de Laan, on SABC 2 as part of their award which the two of them won during the Eden Festival.

The Eden Drama Festival is the collective name for the festivals that are in the Eden District of the Western Cape. These festivals were held in Plettenberg Bay, Riversdale, Cape Town and Oudtshoorn, the last two being the Suid-Ooster Festival in Cape Town and the Klein-Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) in Oudtshoorn. These ex-Northlink College students walked away with the awards of best actor and actress during the festival. This prize included an audition for 7de Laan.

Says Olivia Pika, winner of the best actress award at the Eden Drama Festival: “The experience was unbelievable, a dream come true since I have decided to study drama.”

Both of them each got the opportunity to mingle with some of the cast. Actors like Theodore Jantjies (Xander Meintjies in 7de Laan and ex-Northlink College student), Pierre van Pletzen (Ou-Baas on 7de Laan) and Vinette Ebrahim (Charmaine Meintjies on 7de Laan) were just some of the cast that they met. Each of them received 3 scripts but one that they had to prepare for the on-set shoot.

“The experience gave me the motivation to work hard and go for what I want, cause it’s not impossible at all…it might be hard yes, but not impossible,” adds Julian van der Westhuizen, winner of the best actor award at the Eden Drama Festival.

The episode in which these two Northlink students played their roles was flighted 18 April 2013. The students now have been placed in the 7de Laan database and will be doing some more “guest starring” roles in the soapie in the near future.