Pony Cam

Pony Cam
TypeTheatre group
LocationMelbourne
Websiteponycam.co

Pony Cam are an Australian theatre collective based in Melbourne. They are known for their postdramatic, experimental stage productions across Australia and North America.

History

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."

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.

Themes

Pony Cam productions center around themes of capitalism, community, intergenerationality, feminism, sexuality, and the realities of working in the performing arts. 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.

Theatrical productions

Year Show Location Notes
2020 A Red Square N/A Virtual-only performance during COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 Paradise Lots Northland Shopping Centre, Melbourne
Drive By Paradise La Mama Theatre, Melbourne
2022 Anything You Can Do Darebin Fuse Festival, Darebin
Paradise Lots The Drum Theatre, Dandenong
Grand Theft Theatre Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne
Paradise Lots
Get It While It's Hot Abbotsford Convent, Abbotsford
2023 Anything You Can Do Chalice Hall, Darebin
This is Not Going to Go Well State Library Of Victoria, Melbourne
And Then There Was Night The Drum Theatre, Dandenong Performed in several streets, shops, and restaurants across Dandenong.
Snake Eats Head N/A Audio-only performance.
Grand Theft Theatre St Ambrose Hall, Brunswick
Boobs in Space La Mama Theatre, Melbourne
All of This Could Be Yours Darebin Fuse Festival, Darebin
Burnout Paradise Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne
2024 Paradise Lots Platform Arts, Geelong
Grand Theft Theatre Adelaide Festival, Adelaide
Feast Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne
Burnout Paradise St. Ann's Warehouse, New York
2025 Anything You Can Do Australian tour
The Orchard Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne
Burnout Paradise Irish & North American tour
2026 Astor Place Theatre, New York
kinda like that Fall for Dance Festival, New York City Center, New York

References

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 1 2 Snook, Raven (23 March 2026). "Theater review: Burnout Paradise (★★★★) is delightfully exhausting". Time Out New York. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Get a 1st Look at Pony Cam's Burnout Paradise Off-Broadway". Playbill. 25 February 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "And Then There Was Night". Issuu. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  6. 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.
  7. 1 2 3 "Paradise Lots". Platform Arts. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Stories of M - William Strom". Stories of M. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Grand Theft Theatre by Pony Cam". Parrot Ox. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  10. ↑ "Review: Anything You Can Do by Pony Cam". 17 February 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  11. ↑ "Pony Cam & David Williams". slv.vic.gov.au.
  12. ↑ "Holding Pattern, Pony Cam - ngurrak narring". www.ngurrakbarring.com.au. 18 August 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  13. ↑ "Grand Theft Theatre: An unreliable memoir". 5 October 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  14. ↑ "All of This Could Be Yours". Australian Arts Review. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ Hastings, Ashleigh (18 October 2024). "Feast". Timeout.
  17. ↑ "Burnout Paradise". St. Ann's Warehouse. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  18. ↑ "Anything You Can Do". Murray Arts. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  19. ↑ "Stories of M - The Orchard". Stories of M. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ "Burnout Paradise is Multitasking on Steroids". Range. 17 November 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  22. ↑ Rabinowitz, Chloe (4 August 2026). "New York City Center Reveals Full Programming for 23rd Fall for Dance Festival". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 4 October 2026.