iStart Chinese Theatre 冰点话剧社 Organisation / Collective / Group

Founded in 2014 by playwright and director Yabing Liu, iStart Chinese Theatre 冰点话剧社 is a North Shore-based Mandarin-language community theatre company with approximately 60 members. The company — who largely present at the PumpHouse Theatre — stage original works by Liu as well as her own translations of Hitchcock films like Dial M For Murder (2017) and Rear Window (2022).

The company aims to “give Chinese amateur theatre performers a stage on which to show their talents, to realise their dreams, and at the same time provide original stories inspired by real life, to entertain and inspire our audiences”. It operates on a volunteer community model, offering open auditions. “Lots of new immigrants and international students want to join us,” Liu commented in an interview, “Because here they can do what they are passionate about and feel a sense of belonging.”

Liu’s original works include Story About a Poet (2017), based on the tragic story of real-life Chinese poet, Gu Cheng, who lived on Waiheke Island, Love Retreat (2018), a dystopian science fiction in which women are forced to marry and give birth and Love Story in 1990 (2019), which follows the story of someone who immigrates to Tāmaki Makaurau from Beijing and the connections that are lost and found along the way.

The story of iStart Chinese Theatre

Past shows at PumpHouse Theatre

2022 — Rear Window, PumpHouse Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau

2022 — Face Masks, Brian Gerrard Theatre (Birkenhead College), Tāmaki Makaurau

2019 — Love Story in 1990, PumpHouse Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau

2018 — Love Retreat, PumpHouse Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau

2018 — Dial M for Murder, PumpHouse Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau

2018 — Dial M for Murder, TAPAC, Tāmaki Makaurau

2017 — Dial M for Murder, PumpHouse Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau

2017 — A Story About a Poet, PumpHouse Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau

2016 — A Story About a Poet, PumpHouse Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau

2015 — Nice to Meet You, PumpHouse Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau