{"id":2161,"date":"2026-01-13T14:56:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/?p=2161"},"modified":"2026-01-13T14:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:28:11","slug":"finding-her-own-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/2026\/01\/13\/finding-her-own-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding her own story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finding her own story<\/strong><\/p>\n

Growing up in regional South Australia shaped actor and theatre maker Ashton Malcolm (BCreatArts(Drama) \u201909, BCreatArts(Drama)(Hons) \u201910) in ways she\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really lucky,\u201d she says. \u201cI 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!<\/em> and Calamity Jane<\/em> and being completely enchanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. \u201cThey’ve been supportive right from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her first time on stage came early: a solo singing Away in a Manger in Year 2 at Port Pirie\u2019s Keith Michell Theatre. \u201cI remember feeling absolutely terrified but enjoying it. That hasn\u2019t changed,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI\u2019m quite an introverted person who\u2019s chosen a very extroverted job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finding a path from the country to the stage<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up regionally really defined me. I love being a country kid,\u201d Ashton explains, but she also remembers feeling the limitations of distance, of watching city kids access programs that simply didn\u2019t exist locally. That experience now fuels one of her core professional passions: touring to regional communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBell Shakespeare toured to Tanunda when I was in high school, and it was the first time I\u2019d ever met professional actors,\u201d she recalls. \u201cActing felt like a crazy goal for me, and you can\u2019t be what you can\u2019t see. So now, getting to tour regionally with theatre companies feels important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The decision that changed everything<\/strong><\/p>\n

At 18, Ashton moved to Adelaide to study at the Flinders Drama Centre. She didn\u2019t know many people in the city and lived on campus her first year, and she says the decision changed everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved going to Flinders. I made amazing friends. And the training was exactly what I needed,\u201d she explains. She\u2019d auditioned for the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) too, planning to reassess after a year at Flinders, \u201cbut I was just so happy with the lecturers, they pushed me in the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

What she didn\u2019t expect was how enduring those relationships would become. \u201cMost shows I do, there\u2019s someone from Flinders there. Even if we weren\u2019t there at the same time, we\u2019ve got this shared language. My collaborators now are often my former classmates or teachers. That\u2019s been such a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Performing as John Barton in Looking for Alibrandi. Photo by Matt Byrne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finding her authentic self<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ashton\u2019s career spans 16 years and she\u2019s held roles with some of the country\u2019s most respected theatre companies. Yet she\u2019s open about the challenges of finding her footing after graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn those first few years after graduating I was terrible at auditioning,\u201d she admits. \u201cI used to emulate actors I admired. Without meaning to, I\u2019d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

That shift marked the moment her career really began to take off.<\/p>\n

Ashton has had many memorable roles since then. Her debut with State Theatre Company SA was a feminist retelling of Othello<\/em>, where she played Desdemona. This was directed by fellow Flinders alum and now longtime collaborator Nescha Jelk (BCreatArts(Drama) \u201910, BCreatArts(Drama)(Hons) \u201911). \u201cTo get to play Desdemona as my first State Theatre role was pretty remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another defining experience was Euphoria<\/em>, written by Emily Steel and directed by Nescha Jelk. \u201cI played six different characters in Euphoria<\/em>, it felt quite athletic! One of my characters, Meg, was such a gift \u2013 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not one to sit by the phone waiting for it to ring, making her own theatre continues to feature prominently in Ashton\u2019s creative life. And it helps pay the bills in the downtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love making the work. That means collaborating, telling stories, devising new things. When I\u2019m not working on a big acting job, I\u2019m making my own work, I\u2019m teaching, and I\u2019m working front-of-house at the Art Gallery of South Australia, because I love being creatively stimulated.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/em>. \u201cI spent four hours playing a misogynistic commentator while Meg spent four hours playing squash!\u201d<\/p>\n

The more diversity I can find, and the more I\u2019m intellectually and physically challenged, that\u2019s where the reward comes for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s equally proud of diverse work with companies like Windmill, Patch, Restless Dance Theatre, Theatre Republic, Brink and Vitalstatistix Theatre Company. \u201cI\u2019ve built excellent relationships with a big range of companies in Adelaide. It means I keep getting to make work that challenges and excites me.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Exploring new directions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ashton is expanding her practice again and, at the time of this interview was directing her first show, Scenes with Girls<\/em> by Miriam Battye.\u00a0 The show played a sold-out season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think I was a director,\u201d she says. \u201cBut Brittany Gallasch (BCreatArts(Drama) \u201921, BCreatArts(Drama)(Hons) \u201922, MVirtualProd \u201924) came to me with this script and I just loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Directing has given her new appreciation for the craft. \u201cI 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\u2019m loving championing other artists and shaping the space so they can do their best work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her years as an actor have become her greatest asset as a director. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve 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\u2019s a real advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those considering studying drama at Flinders, Ashton is unequivocal: \u201cGo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cA lot of the work I get isn\u2019t just because I\u2019m an actor. It\u2019s because I\u2019m good at devising. Flinders gives you that.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Flinders Performance degrees<\/a> span acting, directing and theatre making, and have been designed in consultation with industry. You\u2019ll learn from the best and connect with some of Australia\u2019s leading arts organisations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finding her own story Growing up in regional South Australia shaped actor and theatre maker Ashton Malcolm (BCreatArts(Drama) \u201909, BCreatArts(Drama)(Hons) \u201910) in ways she\u2019s still discovering. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2445,"featured_media":2162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[825,2068],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-of-business-government-and-law","category-study-creative-arts-media"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2445"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}