De Montfort University in Leicester, England, will be hosting on 22 April 2021 a virtual conference reflecting on the closure of theatres in Shakespeare's time and our own. We welcome papers on a range of responses to the closures, including those by writers (Shakespeare and others), playgoers, patrons, and civil and state authorities, some of whom welcomed and some lamented the loss of public theatre.

Abstracts of 200-300 words should be sent to Siobhan Keenan <skeenan@dmu.ac.uk>, Gabriel Egan <gegan@dmu.ac.uk>, and Deborah Cartmell <djc@dmu.ac.uk> with subject title 'Shakespeare and the Closure of Theatres' by 5 January 2021 for consideration by the conference committee. Decisions will be announced by 12 January 2021. It is expected that a selection of papers will be published following the conference.