- Hodgdon, Barbara. "Absent Bodies, Present Voices:
- Performance Work and the Close of Romeo and Juliet's Golden Story." Theatre Journal 41.3 (October, 1989): 341-359. Rptd. in Romeo and Juliet: Critical Essays. Ed. John F. Andrews. New York: Garland, 1993. 243-265.
Thesis: Hodgdon objects to the idea that what Shakespeare wrote ought to be treated with respect. She believes that what she calls the "playtext" of the author has no more validity than any director's "performance text." Holding these views, Hodgdon offers no commentary on the play; instead she jargons on about how a perfomance could be studied "as a cultural event."
Bottom Line: Hodgdon kills theater with theory.