There’s a distinct expectation that comes with going to see Cate Blanchett. Normally on the stage it’s about a performance that moves you. Having seen Cate perform at the Sydney Theatre Company in the past, what she shared about herself in conversation with Anne Summers, made it clearer to me why it was so easy to relate and be absorbed by her characters on the stage and screen.
Cate said on the night that theater is a mix of practicality and fantasy, and I think that our own balance comes when we learn to combine both of those worlds.
Cate was delightful to listen to, the audience would ruffle into casual laughter as she spoke, paused to ponder her answers, then had us revelling in every word.
Highlight Notes
Choose your cast carefully
Whether on stage, in life or in your workplace, spend time with people you like being with. Cate selected her plays not based on the character but because of the people she would work with, and was excited to spend time with, “it’s like having a great dinner party all the time”. There is an amazing energy generated by being with people you enjoy being with. Indeed being part of her audience that evening felt a little like being at a delightful dinner party.
Humble yourself to the work at hand
Cate shared a humility with which she approaches each of her roles, and takes a blank canvas approach to learn about each role. She explores it like an anthropologist. Cate said “the material reveals the way you should work” and I think that taking a beginner’s mind approach new endeavors gives us the same opportunity. This is poignant to each of us, when we meets a new person, client or start a new role. In the rush to prove that we know what we are talking about or introduce who we are, it is easy to forget to listen, to humble yourself to the person, the work, the team, allowing it to be something other than what you would originally have imagined.
Have a healthy lack of consequence
Sometimes, there are so many pressures to do the right thing that can leave us feeling afraid and ‘frozen’ not to do anything. Cate’s approach has been to do many things (and not focus so much on the reasons ‘why not’ to do something).
My question for the Wisely Shared audience was "Cate, how do you keep your poise and composure... is it something that comes naturally or can you share how you do it?" . She responded with "do I really seem that way, because I get quite nervous before coming out here. If anything, I focus on the one conversation at a time. It is less nerve wrecking that way". Just lovely. Thank you Cate I will be sure to remember that when I lose my cool.
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Location: Sydney Theater Company
#ascblanchett
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