Cate Blanchett studied drama at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) where she graduated with Diploma of Dramatic Art (Acting) in 1992.

 

Twelfth Night

Play by: William Shakespeare
Play run: 1991
Venue: National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney

 

The Heiress

As: Maria
Directed by: Simon Eine
Play by: Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz
Play run: 1992
Venue: National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney

 

Images de Moliere

Directed by: Simon Eine
Play by: Jean-Baptiste Moliere
Play run: 1992
Venue: National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney

 

Hanjo

Directed by: Sarah Ducker
Play by: Yukio Mishima
Play run: 1992
Venue: National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney

 

Electra

Cate Blanchett as Electra

Directed by: Lindy Davies
Play by: Sophocles
Play run: May 1992
Venue: National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney

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The second photo is Cate Blanchett with Essie Davis (as Clytemnestra) and Matthew Lilley (as Pylades). 

As You Like It

Cate Blanchett as Rosalind

Directed by: Sabin Epstein
Play by: William Shakespeare
Play run: July 1992
Venue: National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney

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Quotes from Cate Blanchett

• “I just love moving in space and I think that’s what NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) did for me – it liberated that sort of ecstasy of freedom of movement in space.” (The Age, February 1995)

Quotes from Others

• Geoffrey Rush:
  — On Cate Blanchett in Electra (1992): “Before we did Oleanna. I had seen one of Cate’s school productions, and was pinned to my seat thinking, ‘Who is this extraordinary creature, with this maturity of performance yet who is still in drama school? Even when she’s doing nothing, you get this interplay between vulnerability and assurance, flickering from one to the other, which I think for the Queen is breathtaking.”
  — “She [Lindy Davies] would come home and say, ‘There is this astonishing young woman working on this production.’ … There was already a buzz around Cate. [And her Electra?] Amazing. The assurance. You’re seeing somebody who’s already, even in drama school, having a kind of consummate facility to actually be able to do it. Not only to bring great imaginative resources to it, but to define it with such emotional clarity and to etch it with such classical dimensions.”
• Lindy Davies:
  — On Cate Blanchett during rehearsals: “One of the things that she can do is move into the realm of metaphor, but without being histrionic. She sobbed on the floor in the sunlight. She was talking about Menelaus. The sense of grief was like a waterfall cascading. The thing is that she understands loss.”
  — On Cate Blanchett as Electra: “I was impressed by her intellect, her curiosity, her perspicacity, her physical fluency. We had a huge set, a structure twelve feet tall made of old bed frames welded together, and she’s climb right up it. She was an astonishing Electra: One day, after we’d been working for one hour in the space, this huge shaft of sunlight came through the ceiling, and suddenly this … creature … step forward into it and created a fusion between words, light, and action. An amazing presence happened. Her work in its most transcendent state is Other — pure egolessness.”
  — On Cate Blanchett’s strong work ethic and relentless curiosity: “Cate is brave, generous, selfess and, most of all, egoless. Therefore, this profound transformation could take place. She bypasses the rational self. She’s playing actions, not doing objectives. She organically transforms words into experiences and shares with us the character’s perspective, which she experiences for the first time as she looks through their eyes.”
• Essie Davis:
  — “We were friends, flatmates for a while. Cate’s a beautiful actress and was always destined for greatness.”

Trivia & Facts

• Cate Blanchett’s audition to get into NIDA was a monologue from European Features (1989), a play that she did with La Mama Theatre while studying at University of Melbourne.
• Cate Blanchett and Essie Davis were in the same class at NIDA and shared a flat at one point while studying.
• Cate Blanchett was initially set to play Clytemnestra in the production of Electra (1992) but the actress who was supposed to play the title role withdrew two weeks into rehearsals. She rehearsed independently with Lindy Davies over Easter weekend.

Source: AusStage