Pony Cam
 Pony Cam performing in 2026; from left to right, Claire Bird, Hugo Williams, William Strom, Dominic Weintraub, and Ava Campbell | |
| Type | Theatre group |
|---|---|
| Location | Melbourne |
| Website | ponycam |
Pony Cam are an Australian theatre collective based in Melbourne. They are known for their postdramatic, experimental stage productions across Australia and North America.[1]
History
[edit]Pony Cam grew out of a collaboration of five friends who met at Victorian College of the Arts. Their lineup consists of original members Claire Bird, Ava Campbell, William Strom, Dominic Weintraub, and Hugo Williams. Pony Cam emphasize a non-hierarchal structure and creation process: "We’re a collective, which in-and-of-itself is a binding idea, because it means you resist the pull of hierarchy. So instead of having a director, or a writer, or even a leader, we co-author everything."[2]
In 2024, Pony Cam premiered their theatrical production Burnout Paradise—a show in which four Pony Cam members complete tasks on treadmills within an allotted time frame—at the Melbourne Fringe Festival. After touring the show across Ireland and North America, including a stop in Brooklyn at St. Ann's Warehouse, they settled down Off-Broadway in the Astor Place Theatre for a three-month run in 2026, following Blue Man Group’s 30-year-long residency at the venue.[3][4]
Themes
[edit]Pony Cam productions center around themes of capitalism, community, intergenerationality, feminism, sexuality, and the realities of working in the performing arts.[2] Their productions tend to feature elements of audience participation, improvisation, contemporary clowning, postdramatic theatre, and devised theatre, and frequently take place in non-traditional spaces, such as car parks or libraries.[3][5]
Theatrical productions
[edit]| Year | Show | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | A Red Square | N/A | Virtual-only performance during COVID-19 pandemic.[6] |
| 2021 | Paradise Lots | Northland Shopping Centre, Melbourne | [7] |
| Drive By Paradise | La Mama Theatre, Melbourne | [8] | |
| 2022 | Anything You Can Do | Darebin Fuse Festival, Darebin | [6] |
| Paradise Lots | The Drum Theatre, Dandenong | [5] | |
| Grand Theft Theatre | Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne | [9] | |
| Paradise Lots | [7] | ||
| Get It While It's Hot | Abbotsford Convent, Abbotsford | [8] | |
| 2023 | Anything You Can Do | Chalice Hall, Darebin | [10] |
| This is Not Going to Go Well | State Library Of Victoria, Melbourne | [11] | |
| And Then There Was Night | The Drum Theatre, Dandenong | Performed in several streets, shops, and restaurants across Dandenong.[5] | |
| Snake Eats Head | N/A | Audio-only performance.[12] | |
| Grand Theft Theatre | St Ambrose Hall, Brunswick | [13] | |
| Boobs in Space | La Mama Theatre, Melbourne | [1] | |
| All of This Could Be Yours | Darebin Fuse Festival, Darebin | [14] | |
| Burnout Paradise | Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne | [15] | |
| 2024 | Paradise Lots | Platform Arts, Geelong | [7] |
| Grand Theft Theatre | Adelaide Festival, Adelaide | [9] | |
| Feast | Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne | [16] | |
| Burnout Paradise | St. Ann's Warehouse, New York | [17] | |
| 2025 | Anything You Can Do | Australian tour | [18] |
| The Orchard | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne | [19] | |
| Burnout Paradise | Irish & North American tour | [20][21] | |
| 2026 | Astor Place Theatre, New York | [4] |
References
[edit]- 1 2 "On Treadmills and Cinnamon Toast Crunch: Meet Pony Cam, the Creators of Burnout Paradise - TheaterMania.com". 17 February 2026. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- 1 2 "Five Questions on Works From the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the Cast of Burnout Paradise - Stanford Live". live.stanford.edu. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- 1 2 Snook, Raven (23 March 2026). "Theater review: Burnout Paradise (★★★★) is delightfully exhausting". Time Out New York. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- 1 2 "Get a 1st Look at Pony Cam's Burnout Paradise Off-Broadway". Playbill. 25 February 2026.
- 1 2 3 "And Then There Was Night". Issuu. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- 1 2 Radbourne, Lucas (17 August 2023). "Radical baby boomers explore intimacy, apologies and dance in this FUSE Festival show". Beat Magazine. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Paradise Lots". Platform Arts. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- 1 2 "Stories of M - William Strom". Stories of M. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- 1 2 "Grand Theft Theatre by Pony Cam". Parrot Ox. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Review: Anything You Can Do by Pony Cam". 17 February 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Pony Cam & David Williams". slv.vic.gov.au.
- ↑ "Holding Pattern, Pony Cam - ngurrak narring". www.ngurrakbarring.com.au. 18 August 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Grand Theft Theatre: An unreliable memoir". 5 October 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "All of This Could Be Yours". Australian Arts Review. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ Nguyen, Giselle Au-Nhien (7 June 2024). "'There is a constant fear': could you cook, paint and sing while running on a treadmill?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ Hastings, Ashleigh (18 October 2024). "Feast". Timeout.
- ↑ "Burnout Paradise". St. Ann's Warehouse. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Anything You Can Do". Murray Arts. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Stories of M - The Orchard". Stories of M. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ Host, Jade Hindmon / KPBS Midday Edition; Producer, Ashley Rusch /. "This week in the arts: Black Pacific history, WOW Festival and San Diego book crawl". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ "Burnout Paradise is Multitasking on Steroids". Range. 17 November 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2026.