I have a fond memory of my mission to Harvard University to deliver my conference paper on Neither at the ACLA conference. Not only I got to see the estimated colleagues who organized my seminar session, in particular, my brilliant friend musicologist Jason D’Aoust, but I got to meet new people, and to share my research with a very refined and attentive parterre of listeners.
Besides receiving positive feedback on my presentation, I enjoyed walking around the Harvard Quadrangle in Cambridge, and discover the students’ nooks for food and drinks such as the Liquiteria and historical Al’s Café.
The adventure was particularly amazing, as I crossed path with the Maynooth University Chamber Choir’s international tour, who was stopping in Boston in the same days. I joined the fun crew for dinner after my paper, and it all felt like a homecoming away from home. The energy these guys were able to transmit over the few hours I was around them really stayed with me even after they left to venture to China, and animated the few days I spent on my own. The weather graced my stay with some lovely sunshine, and that allowed me to go on a few adventures in Boston, a good, vibrant city, who embraced me with its friendliness and hospital people.
On Sunday I had a few hours to cruise around the city. I bumped into the ad for Beckett’s Trilogy played at the Paramount Theatre by amazing Irish actress Lisa Dwan on the same day Boston was celebrating St. Pat’s with a parade.
I just couldn’t believe the numerous Irish coincidences/connections. It was in the immersive dark of a Beckettian performance that a few epiphanies struck me about my own production of Neither for my “En-Gendering Monodrama” project, and I can’t wait to share them with my creative team in Maynooth.
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