Kirle from quarantine: An introduction to the Bruce Kirle Memorial Debut Panel, 2020

Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the fate of the annual Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference and the twelfth annual Bruce Kirle Memorial Debut Panel hung in the balance. By sheer will and determination, those at the helm of the ATHE machine managed to pull off a virtual conference, bringing scholars from across the world together from the comfort and safety of their own digital devices. This introduction explores the context of the conference, theatre’s unique COVID-era connection to Kirle’s notion of ‘unfinished busi-ness’ and the work of the 2020 Kirle scholars Lindsey Barr, Samantha Lampe and Trystan Loustau. © 2020 Intellect Ltd Article. English language.