Local woman, Winsome Ogilvie, has been accepted into the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney after recently graduating from the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra with a degree in Art History.

Having completed her primary schooling at Berridale Public School before moving to Snowy Mountains Grammar School in Jindabyne, Winsome said she had most enjoyed drama class at school.

“Once graduating high school, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do and after having a gap year working, I moved to Canberra to attend ANU,” Winsome said.

“And throughout my degree I also did drama with the theatre society and Shakespeare society where my passion for theatre grew, and I met a lot of great like-minded people.

“After graduating with a degree in Art History, I decided that I wanted to pursue my passion further in acting and applied to NIDA and Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) where I was accepted in both campuses and ultimately chose NIDA to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting.”

With a rigorous application process ahead of her, Winsome came home to Jindabyne to help her dad in his store while working on the process which included filming herself doing two monologues, one being a modern monologue, and the second being classical, for example a Shakespeare monologue.

Once sent, Winsome received a call back moving her to the next stage of the process which included an in-person performance with 12 other applicants performing in front of a panel.

“Once that was complete, I was placed on a waitlist then a few days later received the call that I had been accepted,” Winsome said.

Quite the accomplishment, as only 24 people out of the 1200 applicants were accepted into the program.

“I was working at my dad’s shop in Jindabyne when I got the call with my acceptance and it was a pretty quiet day. The news was very surprising, and I wasn’t expecting to actually get in but thought why not just give it a go,” Winsome said.

“It was really nice and very exciting; it’s all been pretty surreal.”

After moving to Sydney and starting her new bachelor, Winsome has settled into university life nicely and is excited to complete the three-year course and see where acting can take her.

“I love theatre. Live performance is something I will continue after my studies and my hope for the future is to continue making theatre with my friends,” Winsome said.

“I have a close friend wanting to pursue a career as a director so if it’s a possibility for us to team up and collaborate together on theatre performances then hopefully make it into more established theatre venues across Australia, that would be the dream.”

No stranger to the stage, Winsome was involved in the Canberra theatre community for the past two years where she played character in The Almighty Sometimes in Queanbeyan as well as performing in Lord of the Flies at Canberra Repertory Theatre among others.

Describing herself as shy and introverted in her everyday life, when she’s on stage she comes alive and is often drawn to strong and outspoken characters.

“On the stage I am the opposite to what I’m like in life in general. I still get nervous every time I enter the stage, but I love it, I love being up there on stage,” Winsome said.

“I would like to thank Mrs Batson, my drama teacher from Snowy Mountains Grammar School, she really nurtured my love for acting at school and I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for her.”

Cathy Batson the former Drama teacher at Snowy Mountains Grammar School described Winsome’s achievements as nothing short of spectacular.

“She is a very talented woman that is going to do some amazing things with her career,” Mrs Batson said.