A creature waits in a darkened room. Not dark so much as poorly lit. There are no windows. There is no décor. The walls are made of old grey cinderblocks. An old mattress lies on a bare concrete floor. There’s pipping along the walls and ceiling from which the creature sometimes dangles, having clambered up like a monkey. Between its chamber and the rest of the modest apartment in which this chamber is sequestered is a padlocked door. The creature waits, looking expectantly at the door, its limbs and neck moving unnaturally as it emits grunts, growls, and chirps. There’s something unsettling about its appearance. Something that makes it difficult to classify as animal or human or. . . something else. It jerks as it hears a key in the padlock. The door opens and in walks a woman primped and neatly dressed as though heading to a downtown insurance office.
If the above paragraph makes you curious then you’ll definitely want to see The Pet by Shane Devon Nelson, a brand-new play set to make its world premiere at The Shadowbox Theatre October 2nd, 2026. The Pet, which won the 2025 Windsor-Essex Playwriting Contest, is the story of two lonely creatures locked in a strangely intimate and highly unusual relationship. Lane, known as the Caretaker, is a woman whose entire life revolves around her time in the apartment, which she inherited from her parents, and the office where she works in data entry. The work, which she hates, is a means to an end. It sustains her life and the life of the creature she has imprisoned in her childhood bedroom, a creature she dotes on and cares for but also resents and fears. This creature, known as the Pet, is a figure of mystery. It spends most of its time in solitary confinement and sensory depravation – except when the Caretaker opens the door of its cell to feed and water it. Sometimes the Caretaker plays with it, tells it stories about her life, even confides in it. One day she even brings it some paints so it can learn to express itself. But it isn’t allowed out of the cell. It’s never left the cell and has no idea what the world is like outside the four walls that confine it. How much does it understand? What does it want? Does it dream? Is it capable of love?
The relationship between the Caretaker and the Pet is a cycle, a routine, ongoing for an undetermined length of time. Their lives are in stasis. We don’t know how long they’ve been living this way, and we don’t know how long they’ll continue in this state. Maybe forever. Although the Caretaker appears to love the Pet, she also seems aware of its potential for violence. She can’t see a way out. Maybe she’s given up on believing there could ever be a way out of the situation in which she and the Pet are trapped. At times she loses her temper. Caring for a creature like the Pet is exhausting. But it’s how things are. This is the status quo. The Caretaker has dreams of vacationing someplace warm and tropical but she hasn’t left the city in which she lives since she was a child. Dreams aren’t something she works toward; they’re just fantasies to which she can escape in her sleep.
Then one day, while the Caretaker is filling in for the receptionist at her workplace, she meets Logan, known as the Admirer. The Admirer works in the Human Waste trade. He’s an executive with a company that collects all the garbage that human beings produce, the detritus of a culture that treats everything as disposable, and ships it to foreign countries. Out of sight, out of mind. He finds a certain purpose and nobility in his work. But he also finds the culture that makes his work necessary regrettable. Although the Admirer and the Caretaker are both socially awkward, they hit it off. Each of them sees something familiar in the other – loneliness, compassion, a desperation to connect with other people and forge a better life. Their meeting sparks in the Caretaker something that she hasn’t felt in many years: hope. Suddenly the possibility of a different life seems real.
But the two relationships that now matter most to the Caretaker are incompatible. She can either choose a life with the Admirer, or continue caring for her imprisoned Pet. Either a romantic relationship and potentially brighter but uncertain future, or the life of responsibility and routine that’s defined her so far. And what happens if these two paths, these two possible lives, collide with each other? The result will be. . . catastrophic.
The Pet is a bold and unsettling and captivating new play only available (for now) in Windsor-Essex and only at The Shadowbox Theatre. Nelson’s remarkable psychological horror bequeaths a rich trio of complicated and engaging characters, all of them deeply human – even when they aren’t human at all. It weaves together a compelling story that builds dread and intrigue propulsively, carrying the audience to a climax that will leave patrons shaking. And it explores, with subtlety and intelligence, an array of themes that deal with facets of our lives and culture rarely examined onstage: caregiver fatigue, a culture of waste and disposability, co-dependency, and the deliciously uncomfortable tension between love and resentment that exists in so many relationships. It’s ideal live entertainment for those who want more value for their ticket dollar in the 2026 spooky season.
For the past three months cast and crew have been hard at work figuring out how best to bring The Pet to glorious life. Although Nelson no longer lives in Windsor, he’s been able to attend most rehearsals virtually and a few in person, providing valuable insight to the actors as they investigate, explore, and refine their characters. Directors don’t always get the benefit of the playwright’s thoughts during the rehearsal process, nor the opportunity to ask questions and receive answers in real-time. Pooling contributions from the playwright himself, each of the cast members, and the directors, the rehearsal process has been unusually fertile.
Leading the cast in the role of the Caretaker is Fay Lynn (who also serves as co-director and producer), who brings exceptional gravitas and emotional depth to the role. Lynn – who audiences know from dozens of theatre productions over the past 20 years – skillfully captures the ambivalence of the Caretaker, her constant struggle between love and fear, compassion and resentment, hope and grief. In her interactions with the Pet, audiences will find themselves at one moment charmed and at the next horrified. By the time the Caretaker and the Admirer meet for their first date, the tension in the room will be thick with both optimism and dread.
Lynn’s counterpart, the titular Pet, is played by Julia Pastorius – a young actor who is nevertheless a veteran of stage and screen. Last seen at the Shadowbox Theatre as Cate in Blasted by Sarah Kane, Pastorius has long mastered the art of embodying characters who aren’t quite human, in such productions as Cats (Cardinal Music Productions) and Curious George (Bloomsbury House Stage Productions). As the Pet she’s applying her considerable craft and physicality in a much less child-friendly role, bringing to vivid life a creature who does not move or communicate like a human being. During the rehearsal process she’s had the opportunity to experiment with how the Pet will move, look, and sound – creating a hybrid that will disturb and disquiet. . . until it terrifies.
Finally, as the play’s romantic lead, Jamie Taylor plays the Admirer with a remarkable blend of good-natured charm, awkwardness, and steely resolve. A relative newcomer to the Windsor-Essex scene, having moved here from the United Kingdom just a few years ago, Taylor was last seen in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Bloomsbury House Stage Productions), Bannberg Prison Blues (Purple Theatre Company), and Frankenstein (Korda Artistic Productions). In the role of the Admirer, Taylor has to balance a fine and tricky line since his character both threatens the relationship between the Caretaker and the Pet and offers the promise of a new and better future for the Caretaker. And in the end, he needs to convey a strength of will that must surprise the audience even as it emerges authentically from the person they’ve come to know throughout the play. Although he has only been acting for a couple of years, Taylor has managed to impress the entire cast and crew during the rehearsal process with his insight, authenticity, and commitment. Many in the audience will surely understand exactly why the Caretaker falls in love with him.
The Pet is being performed at The Shadowbox Theatre (1501 Howard ave., corner of Howard & Shepherd, Windsor, Ont.) October 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16 & 17. Showtime 8:00 PM (doors open 7:30). Tickets can be purchased for $20 for the first weekend (Oct. 2 & 3), $25 for the second weekend (Oct. 8, 9, & 10), and $30 for the third and final weekend (Oct. 15, 16 & 17) via postproductionswindsor.ca or at the door (cash, debit, or credit card) if seats are still available. Starring Fay Lynn, Julia Pastorius, and Jamie Taylor. Written by Shane Devon Nelson. Directed and produced by Michael K. Potter and Fay Lynn. Lighting and Sound Operation by Kieran Potter. Posters and programs designed by Kris Simic. Presented by Post Productions.
