The Girl Whose Twin was a Bird
‘The Girl Whose Twin was a Bird’ is my third full length play and first solo puppet performance
A play by Talia Pua
‘The Girl Whose Twin Was a Bird’ is a funny and touching coming of age story about twinhood, told through puppetry and cooking (and puppets who cook!)
Twin puppets, Jena and Petra. Photo: Achmad Mirza Siregar
About the Show
It’s the Grand Opening of Petra Quek’s noodle stall, ‘Flying Mee Hoon Kueh’ and you’re invited! Join Petra as she cooks her signature Mee Hoon Kueh, and shares the story of how it all started.
Role
Playwright, Puppeteer & Performer
Duration
45 min, followed by a 30 min post show Meet, Greet and Eat
Suitable for audiences 5 years old +
Creative Team
Puppet Mentor - Jon Coddington
Dramaturge - Rachel Callinan
Director - Miriama McDowell
Producer - Natalya Mandich-Dohnt
Music Composition & Sound Design - Harmony Hogarth
Stage Manager & Operator - Tema Pua
Post Show ‘Meet, Greet and Eat’
This is where the audience get to come up, meet the puppets (and me!) up close, and try a small sample of freshly cooked Mee Hoon Kueh.
Audience Feedback
Project History
‘The Girl whose Twin was a Bird’ (or ‘Bird Bird’ for short) is my first foray into puppetry, and my first solo performance! But I had the huge privilege of developing the show under the wings of my puppet mentor, Jon, my dramaturge, Rachel, and the team at Papermoon Puppet Theatre.
The story is inspired by my experience growing up as a twin. Specifically focussing on the period in our relationship when we began to navigate adulthood as individuals rather than a pair. For me, I remember it was quite a scary process, like I was being left behind. I had to learn that despite our growing differences, we were still twins. And that letting go of my twin didn’t mean I loved her any less.
The story brings together my love for cooking (and eating!), and is loosely inspired by my Ah Kong’s (paternal grandfather) noodle factory on Malay Street in Klang, Malaysia. The show celebrates the storytelling power of food and how it brings people together. It throws homage to the strong and vibrant hawker stall culture in Malaysia.
Timeline
April 2026
Hand Pulled Collective’s Tāmaki Makaurau Tour, venues various
Photo: Alyssa Miller
September 2025
The Little Giant Children’s Festival, Quail Cafe, Whangārei
Photo: Jesse Samu
May 2025
Premiere at Downtown Days, Queen’s Wharf, Tāmaki Makaurau
Photo: Harry Mattheson
January 2026
Winner of 2025 Playmarket’s Asian Ink competition.
Dramaturg: Rachel Callinan, Director Miriama McDowell
2024
Selected for Te Hono: Connection with Playmarket;
Script Advisor - Rachel Callinan
October - November 2024
Papermoon Puppet Theatre Artist Residency, Yogyakarta
Happy faces at my end of residency presentation (Photo: Achmad Mirza Siregar)
In November 2024, I completed a two month residency in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, with Papermoon Puppet Theatre. I used the residency to explore the potential of using puppetry for my new play ‘Bird Bird’. The residency culminated in a public presentation where I performed the a work in progress version of the first half of the show.
This residency was made possible with generous funding from Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Artist Practitioner’s Fund.
Read more about my residency on my blog!
Friends Exploring Epic Tales (F.E.E.T)
It all begins with an idea.
Your favourite rambunctious and dysfunctional travelling trio are back for their reunion tour: ambushing audiences with fairy tales while squabbling over the best way to tell them.
A show for the young and young at heart.
Role
Director
Year
2024
Performances
Kōanga Festival, September 2024
Auckland tour across various Auckland Libraries, September - October 2024
Credits
Producer - Natalya Mandoch-Dohnt
Written by - Renee Liang, with stories from Ariadne Baltazar, Lucy Dawber, Talia Pua, Hone Taukiri and Natalya Mandich-Dohnt
Actors - Ariadne Baltazar, Lucy Dawber, and Hone Taukiri
Stage Manager & Swing - Sania Jafarian
Funded by Creative New Zealand
Presented by Hand Pulled Collective
“I came to your show today at Blockhouse Bay library with my two kids and it was fantastic. We have been to a few shows over the years (usually paid tickets), and this was definitely one of the most engaging, fun and hilarious we have seen. Thank you so much for a great time.”
FEET at Kōanga Festival (Photo: Ralph Brown)
Pork and Poll Taxes 人頭猪税
It all begins with an idea.
A play by Talia Pua
1890s New Zealand. A family struggling to forge a better life by sending their men to New Gold Mountain, must reconsider their beliefs on belonging, sacrifice and family when the father chooses to immigrate.
Role
Playwright
Director
Year
2021
Producers
Proudly Asian Theatre
Hand Pulled Collective
Funders
Creative New Zealand
Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust
Awards
Adam NZ Play Award Finalist, 2021
Winner of Playmarket’s b4 25 Play Award, 2022
Pork and Poll Taxes underwent development in 2020 thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand and Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust.
It had its sold out premiere season at the Herald Theatre, Auckland, 2021.
Talia’s playwriting and directing debut, Pork and Poll Taxes, explores the early Chinese immigrant experience in New Zealand. Set in the 1890s amidst the backdrop of increasing civil unrest and poverty in China, and the mounting racism in New Zealand which culminates in the raising of poll tax from £10 to £100.
“I am forever grateful to my ancestors for the sacrifices they made, and their stories couldn’t be told better than through Pork and Poll Taxes.”
“A moving tribute to those affected by the Poll Tax, and by divisive, racist immigration policies, Pork and Poll Taxes is a resounding success.”
Click to view the full programme
Premiere Season Credits
Producer: Marianne Infante
Assistant Producer: Natalya Mandich-Dohnt
Directing Mentor: Chye-Ling Huang
Script Advisor: Renee Liang
Movement Director: Yin-Chi Lee
Language Coach and Cantonese Translator: Audrey Chan
Marketing Manager: Alyssa Medel-Khew
Stage Manager: Lisa Joe
Set Design: Micheal McCabe
Sound Design: Nikita Tu-Bryant
Costuming: Wilson Ong Jun Liang
Lighting: Paul Bennett
Props Design: Cinta Damerell
Photography: John Rata
Graphic Design: Alyssa Pua
Script Development Movement Workshop
Script Development Credits
Producer: Natalya Mandich-Dohnt
Mentors: Chye-Ling Huang & Marianne Infante, Proudly Asian Theatre
Dramaturgy: Renee Liang
Movement Director: Yin-Chi Lee
Script Advisor: Eleanor Bishop (Asian Ink)
Script Development Table Read
Script Developed with
Proudly Asian Theatre
Asian Ink
Red Leap Theatre – The Greenhouse Programme
How to Throw a Chinese Funeral 婆婆再见
A play by Jill Kwan
When Lily and Anna’s grandmother passes away, they must reunite with their family in Malaysia to orchestrate her Taoist funeral - a custom lost even to their headstrong mum and outrageous Auntie.
Role
Set Design
Year
2023
Co-Produced By:
Hand Pulled Collective
Proudly Asian Theatre
Venue
Basement Mainspace
Creative Team
Co-Producers - Natalya Mandich-Dohnt, John Rata
Playwright & Director - Jill Kwan
Lighting & Scenet Design, Operator - Rae Longshaw-Park
Props Design - Cinta Damerell
Props Assistant - JingCheng Zhao
Set Design Mentor - John Veryt
Set Assistant - Tema Pua
Shadow Puppetry & Projections Design - Darryl Chin
Shadow Puppet Assistant - Yin-Chi Lee
Music Composition & Sound Design - Fiona Chua
Directing Mentor - Ahi Karunaharn
Dramaturge - Renee Liang
Cantonese Translation & Coach - Audrey Chan
Marketing Mananger - Jennifer Cheuk
Photography - John Rata
Stage Manager - Lisa Joe
Cast - Lisa Zhang, Ann An, Janet Tan, Yoong Ru Heng, Mustaq Missouri and Charles Chan
What drew me to this project was the fact that it was based in Malaysia. As a New Zealand born Malaysian-Chinese, I cannot recall any other time I have heard my parents’ accents and our culture depicted on a New Zealand stage. Jill’s directorial vision was ambitious, involving puppetry and projection, which made for fun design challenges.
婆婆 Po Po’s altar is the obtrusive “mountain” at the centre of the story, which all the characters and plot revolves around. Drawing upon Taoist and Buddhist beliefs, that the spirit remains on earth for a few days before going to heaven, I wanted to extend the altar to the entire house. I drew inspiration from the materiality of Chinese paper offerings and joss paper.
In Chinese ancestor worship, burning paper offerings is a physical expression of kinship and filial piety to ensure the wellbeing of the deceased in the afterlife.
Suspended white screens displaying the architecture of the house form the joss paper backdrop to the golden centre of the altar. This transforms the house into a transient space, the meeting place between the living and the dead, past and present. As character Yi explains, “ [婆婆 Po Po] is still with us!”.
