Boston was boiling, with many days cracking the 90 degree marker but it was great to catch up with colleagues and friends at the annual AAP conference. I particularly enjoyed the performance workshop on dance moves from the Kabuki play Maiden at Dojoji. During the ATHE conference itself I presented a paper covering two quite different Chinese theatrical adaptations of Lao She’s satirical novel Cat Country as part of a panel on science fiction theatre. We had a good audience at the panel but the best part came afterwards when professor Sarah Bay-Cheng stopped me in the hall to tell me how much she enjoyed it. Ego boost! Of course, I also made sure to enjoy some authentic dimsum with friends in Chinatown–something of a rarity in Indiana. Amongst IU graduate students the consensus seemed to be that the heat was brutal but the conference was great.