Conference resources for participants of
Where Imagination Becomes Experience: Celebrating the Life and Work of Cecily O’Neill
Trinity College Dublin · 25–26 July 2026
Thank you for joining me for the performance of From Old Bean Grows Bak Choy at Trinity College Dublin.
When I present the work in other settings, the performance is usually followed by a discussion, seminar or audience exchange. As the conference programme did not include a separate post-show session, I have created this page especially for conference participants. It brings together the house programme and a recorded companion seminar.
The recorded seminar on this page will remain available until 26 August 2026.
House programme
The bilingual house programme contains further information about the performance, its creative background, acknowledgements and ways to follow or support the continuing journey of the project.
View the House ProgrammeRecorded companion seminar
From Old Bean Grows Bak Choy: A Performed Inquiry into Migration, Displacement and Identity
This recorded seminar explores how the performance was created and how the creative process functioned as research.
It situates the project within Practice-as-Research and considers:
- its autoethnographic positioning;
- the materials that became research data;
- the movement between personal stories and theoretical concepts;
- dramaturgy as a form of narrative analysis;
- the tensions between authenticity, artistic form and ethical responsibility;
- reflexivity and performance as a way of knowing.
The seminar is intended as a companion to the live performance rather than a substitute for it. I hope it offers another way of looking back at the work—not only as an artistic piece, but also as a process through which knowledge was generated.
This video is provided for personal viewing by conference participants. Please do not download, record or redistribute it. It will be removed from this page on 25 Aug 2026.
Further engagement
From Old Bean Grows Bak Choy is also available for presentation in universities, conferences and other institutional settings, with options including a post-show discussion, Practice-as-Research seminar or Applied Theatre seminar.
For those interested in exploring how the work might connect with their students, colleagues or research community, further information is available in the University Engagement Proposal.
Informal enquiries and introductions are always welcome. Feel free to contact me at phoebe.chan@catlab.online.
View the University Engagement Proposal