Finding her own story

Growing up in regional South Australia shaped actor and theatre maker Ashton Malcolm (BCreatArts(Drama) ’09, BCreatArts(Drama)(Hons) ’10) in ways she’s still discovering. Born in Port Pirie and later moving to Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley, she describes her childhood as steeped in imagination, storytelling, and the kind of community-driven creativity that comes from living in a regional area.

“I was really lucky,” she says. “I loved performing from when I was very young. I saw my dad in shows with the local amateur theatre company, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society. I remember seeing him in Oklahoma! and Calamity Jane and being completely enchanted.”

Her mum also worked with the company, and both parents are long-time early childhood educators who created a home full of reading, stories, and encouragement. “They’ve been supportive right from the beginning.”

Her first time on stage came early: a solo singing Away in a Manger in Year 2 at Port Pirie’s Keith Michell Theatre. “I remember feeling absolutely terrified but enjoying it. That hasn’t changed,” she laughs. “I’m quite an introverted person who’s chosen a very extroverted job.”

 

Finding a path from the country to the stage

“Growing up regionally really defined me. I love being a country kid,” Ashton explains, but she also remembers feeling the limitations of distance, of watching city kids access programs that simply didn’t exist locally. That experience now fuels one of her core professional passions: touring to regional communities.

“Bell Shakespeare toured to Tanunda when I was in high school, and it was the first time I’d ever met professional actors,” she recalls. “Acting felt like a crazy goal for me, and you can’t be what you can’t see. So now, getting to tour regionally with theatre companies feels important.”

 

The decision that changed everything

At 18, Ashton moved to Adelaide to study at the Flinders Drama Centre. She didn’t know many people in the city and lived on campus her first year, and she says the decision changed everything.

“I loved going to Flinders. I made amazing friends. And the training was exactly what I needed,” she explains. She’d auditioned for the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) too, planning to reassess after a year at Flinders, “but I was just so happy with the lecturers, they pushed me in the right way.”

What she didn’t expect was how enduring those relationships would become. “Most shows I do, there’s someone from Flinders there. Even if we weren’t there at the same time, we’ve got this shared language. My collaborators now are often my former classmates or teachers. That’s been such a gift.”

 

Finding her authentic self

Ashton’s career spans 16 years and she’s held roles with some of the country’s most respected theatre companies. Yet she’s open about the challenges of finding her footing after graduation.

“In those first few years after graduating I was terrible at auditioning,” she admits. “I used to emulate actors I admired. Without meaning to, I’d be doing a bad impression of another actor. It took me years to realise what I was offering was enough, and that I was in the room because who they wanted was me, not a version of someone else.”

That shift marked the moment her career really began to take off.

Ashton has had many memorable roles since then. Her debut with State Theatre Company SA was a feminist retelling of Othello, where she played Desdemona. This was directed by fellow Flinders alum and now longtime collaborator Nescha Jelk (BCreatArts(Drama) ’10, BCreatArts(Drama)(Hons) ’11). “To get to play Desdemona as my first State Theatre role was pretty remarkable.”

Another defining experience was Euphoria, written by Emily Steel and directed by Nescha Jelk. “I played six different characters in Euphoria, it felt quite athletic! One of my characters, Meg, was such a gift – funny, relatable, and struggling in a very human way. I loved that it was set in a country town and we got to tour this play to country towns throughout Australia.”

Not one to sit by the phone waiting for it to ring, making her own theatre continues to feature prominently in Ashton’s creative life. And it helps pay the bills in the downtime.

“I love making the work. That means collaborating, telling stories, devising new things. When I’m not working on a big acting job, I’m making my own work, I’m teaching, and I’m working front-of-house at the Art Gallery of South Australia, because I love being creatively stimulated.”

In one of those downtimes, she recalls collaborating on endurance-based performance art in galleries with Meg Wilson and Josephine Fitzgerald, winning a Green Room Award in 2019 for their piece Squash. “I spent four hours playing a misogynistic commentator while Meg spent four hours playing squash!”

The more diversity I can find, and the more I’m intellectually and physically challenged, that’s where the reward comes for me.”

She’s equally proud of diverse work with companies like Windmill, Patch, Restless Dance Theatre, Theatre Republic, Brink and Vitalstatistix Theatre Company. “I’ve built excellent relationships with a big range of companies in Adelaide. It means I keep getting to make work that challenges and excites me.”

 

Exploring new directions

Ashton is expanding her practice again and, at the time of this interview was directing her first show, Scenes with Girls by Miriam Battye.  The show played a sold-out season.

“I didn’t think I was a director,” she says. “But Brittany Gallasch (BCreatArts(Drama) ’21, BCreatArts(Drama)(Hons) ’22, MVirtualProd ’24) came to me with this script and I just loved it.”

Directing has given her new appreciation for the craft. “I thought acting was tiring, but directing is next-level. Directors are making micro-decisions all day and that takes a huge amount of energy. But I’m loving championing other artists and shaping the space so they can do their best work.”

Her years as an actor have become her greatest asset as a director. “When you’ve been the person on the floor doing the vulnerable thing, you know how it feels. You know what creates a good room. I think that’s a real advantage.”

For those considering studying drama at Flinders, Ashton is unequivocal: “Go for it. It set me up so well for a career. You meet people who become your colleagues. And the skills you learn in film, TV, acting, devising, those are what the industry needs now.”

She adds, “A lot of the work I get isn’t just because I’m an actor. It’s because I’m good at devising. Flinders gives you that.”

 

Flinders Performance degrees span acting, directing and theatre making, and have been designed in consultation with industry. You’ll learn from the best and connect with some of Australia’s leading arts organisations.