Ashley New | Class of 2024
23/24 Performance Rep, incoming Arts Officer
I first got involved in artsUCL when I auditioned for Drama Society’s Bloomsbury Production, Machinal - which I auditioned for on my very first day at UCL! So that technically means I’ve been a part of artsUCL for the entire duration of my time at university.
I was then cast in Machinal as an ensemble member and it was the humblest of beginnings (I had a total of seven lines), but that really fuelled my hunger to perform more, because for the first time ever I had this massive stage to perform on, in a professional theatre, in central London.
For a girl who'd come from Singapore, this was a huge deal".
As anyone who loves performing would know, one time certainly isn’t enough! So it was really getting to perform on the Blooms stage that pushed me to keep auditioning for even more things.
One of the directors of Machinal went on to direct Musical Theatre Society’s production of My Land’s Shore, which I auditioned for mainly because I wanted to work with her again and ended up being cast in as well.
I became involved in two very different communities of arts people (because back then Musical Theatre and Drama Society barely had any overlap). Which was good for me, because it meant I was meeting a huge breadth of people in artsUCL, and that really cemented my investment in this community.
artsUCL has given me some incredible opportunities to develop as an actor, performer, and a creative.
artsUCL has an incredible wealth of opportunities across a range of art forms, and I’ve managed to try a bit of almost everything over the past three years: acting, directing, singing, music-directing, dancing - even salsa, which I never thought I’d attempt! And because it’s all student-led, it really gave me a taste of what working in the arts industry is like, including communicating with internal and external venues, going through relevant admin processes to sort budgets, funding and location hire.
I’ve managed to try a bit of almost everything over the past three years: acting, directing, singing, music-directing, dancing - even salsa, which I never thought I’d attempt!
The most important thing artsUCL has given me is a sense of community
Cheesy answer, I know, but it’s really where I’ve found all of my best friends at university. My whole network of people is here! And it’s such a supportive, collaborative environment, where people across various societies are always willing to help with different projects, move equipment across campus, or watch three different shows in the span of a week because Drama, Musical Theatre and Jazz Society have all decided to put on shows simultaneously.
I always tell people my life at UCL is 90% artsUCL and 10% degree".
artsUCL is a nurturing ground for opportunity - there is genuinely something in it for everyone. It’s massive in scope and genre, and is there for people to experiment with new works, try their hand at new roles, and meet like-minded individuals.
My next role is to get more involved in artsUCL
Now that I’ve broadened my involvement across more arts societies, I’m really looking forward to stepping back from the individual ones and looking at artsUCL from a macro-perspective. How can I increase participation and opportunities across the board, and create a stronger, more cohesive identity for our community as a whole?
These are just some of the questions I’m thinking about now in preparation for my term as the Arts Officer next year. I’ve got a good set of ideas, and will hopefully start working on them over the summer to really get the ball rolling when the 24/25 academic year kicks in!