She might have starred in Logie-winning medical drama RFDS and performed off-Broadway in New York’s oldest operating theatre, but actor Sarah Brokensha calls a town over 400 kilometres from the nearest capital city home.

Mount Gambier is where she grew up and first found acting; now she runs the farm that was the backdrop to her childhood with her husband and two children.

“One of my favourite parts of living regionally is that I can be out in the paddocks one week and then working on a creative project the next,” Sarah said.

The joyful juxtaposition is one she’s glad to have struck, and finds the origins in happening to score a couple of inspiring drama teachers at Grant High.

“I had my first line on the Sir Robert Helpmann stage in one of the school musicals,” the performer said.

“I don’t remember having a lightbulb moment, I just loved it and was always a part of it.

“I did drama all the way through school but I was 24 when I auditioned for acting school, so it took me a while to pluck up the courage.”

After living and working in Adelaide and Melbourne, Sarah and her partner decided they wanted to have children and raise them in the country.

“It was a little scary for me in terms of ‘will I ever work again if I move to a regional town?'” she said.

“But once I found my feet back here and connected with Steve Mayhew (former creative producer) at Country Arts, it started some relationship-building with other artists in the regions.

“Country Arts was instrumental in supporting me and giving me the nudges I needed to continue making theatre here.”

Sarah went on to create The World is Looking For You, a reflection on losing and finding herself amid the move, motherhood and the sudden death of her father. She performed it on home soil with many of her dad’s friends in attendance.

She also devised Ruby Award-winning children’s work Seven Little Wonders from the south-eastern corner of the state.

“Normally I have to go away for work and be away from my family, so just going to the theatre every day and then going home at night was really nice because I hardly ever do that,” she said.

Looking ahead, Sarah is eager to conjure up the next project with her production company Control Party (formerly The Misery Children), while continuing to be a self-professed jack-of-all-trades on the farm.

“With acting, one of the hardest parts is not knowing when your next gig will come along,” she said.

“It’s not often in your control when you work and what you work on, so making my own art takes some control back and allows me to take risks and push boundaries.

“And it definitely helps to have other things going on. I am lucky that there’s always something on the farm to keep me busy when things are quiet on the creative front.”