Dr. M.J. Kidnie's research centres on early modern English drama by playwrights such as Shakespeare, Middleton, and Jonson who wrote for the professional stage. She edits both the prose and drama of the period.

It was her interest in live performance that first brought her to Shakespeare studies, and she remains especially curious about how we continue to produce these plays today. Kidnie published a series of articles that explores theatre archives, history and theatrical memory, and the politics of race, gender, and appropriation in both staged and filmic performances.