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RESEARCH & TEACHING

TEDxTufts (2020)

VIEWS: 600,000+

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MONOGRAPH-in-PROCESS

 

Tastes Like AIDS: Sweet Aesthetics, Bitter Humor, and Viral Performances of HIV/AIDS​

 

BOOKS-in-DEVELOPMENT
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Misrepresentation of a Cappuccino Soufflé (seeking representation)

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Fractals: Nonbinary Acting Methods (querying publishers)

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Sick Kitchen: Queer Recipes for the Chronically Ill (and Online)​ (seeking representation)

                 

​PLAYS-in-PROCESS

 

The Gospel According to Susan: Confessions of a Transgender Serial Killer​

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  • Central Square Theater (Workshop; July 2025)

  • FRINGEPVD (Premiere; July 2025)​

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TENDER(loving, hungry)QUEERS

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  • Queer Food Conference (Reading; May 2026) â€‹â€‹

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Works in
   Process
Selected 
  Publications
BOOK / PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
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"Review of Time Slips: Queer Temporalities Contemporary Performance and the Hole of History by Jac Pryor"
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Texas Theatre Journal, vol. 17, Theatre in Crisis (2020)​

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“Compton’s Cafeteria Riot by Donna Personna, Collette LeGrande, and Mark Nassar, and; The Potluck by César Alvarez (review)”
 
Theater Journal (June 2027)

"Jo Michael Rezes’s "Trans Inclusion, Gender Expansion, and the New Queer Theatre” is the volume’s strongest contribution...Rezes examines structural shifts across Broadway, educational theatre, and publishing, addressing trans visibility without flattening institutional contradiction. The essay’s attention to recent milestones...positions trans theatre not as emergent novelty but as an evolving field with archival futures."

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Eric Jorgensen, Theater Journal, vol. 78, no.1 (2026)

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"Queer Shades of Black and White," exhibit interpretation for On Christopher Street: Transgender Portraits by Mark Seliger
 
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (2024)

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PUBLIC WRITING / SPEECHES
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Director's Note for The Rocky Horror Show

Central Square Theater (2023)
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"Bloody Cream from Dracula's Kiss
(Cherry Injected Cadbury Creme Eggs
and a Pepsi Cocktail)"


Cook Out! The Queer Food Conference Community Cookbook, ed. Alex D. Ketchum & Megan J. Elias (2024)
"Seventies Cinderella: Clocking [in and out of] The Rocky Horror Show with Angela Bruce"
 
Creating in Crisis, vol. 1,
Polari Press (2021)

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Director's Note for The Interrobangers by M Sloth Levine

Tufts University, Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies (2022)
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"The “AIDS Play” in Fragments: Pieces of a Crisis from Then, Now, and Beyond," Dramaturgy Note (and Interview) for FRAGMENTS by Jim Petosa

Great Barrington Public Theater (2026)
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Dramaturgy Note for KAYFABE by Madison Mondeaux

Fresh Ink Theatre (2026)
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"Time to Think," Student Address, Doctoral Hooding Ceremony

Tufts University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (2026)
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"HIV/AIDS & Nourishing Wellbeing: Sharing Recipes (and Jokes) to Feel Better," (with Isabel Barbosa & Elena Kalodner-Martin)

Queers at the Table ed. Alex D. Ketchum & Megan J. Elias (Oct. 2026), LAMBDA Award (finalist)
EDITED VOLUMES / PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES
"Chapter Nine: Trans Inclusion,
Gender Expansion, and the New Queer Theatre"​
 
Milestones in Queer US Theatre,
Routledge (July 2025)​
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"Notes on Playing (with Monsters) in the Fog: Mysteries of Queer Adolescence in M Sloth Levine's The Interrobangers"

The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays (vol. 3), eds. Keyes, Mantoan,  Schiller (2026)
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"The Bittersweet Look(s) of AIDS: Consuming the Ironic Waste of HIV/AIDS Imagery (and Other Butts of the Joke) in Diseased Pariah News"

Sick Jokes: Visual histories of humour, health and the body, eds. Cowley, Slobogin, and Snow, Manchester University Press (Sept. 2026)
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“Cultural Parosmia in the 'Post-COVID' Digital Sensorium: Phantom Sensations of HIV/AIDS Spread Through the House of Air (2017)” 

Smell Studies Journal (2028, forthcoming)

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Courses &
       Curricula 

Gender Inclusive Pedagogy

Emerson College (SU 23, F 24)

Gender Studies / Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion​

Introduction to Acting

Tufts University (F 19—25), 7 Sections

Theatre, Dance, & Performance Studies

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Introduction to Theatre: Play is the Thing

Boston College (F 22—S 25), 7 Sections

Theatre Department, MCAS

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Devised Theatre: Creativity in Crisis

Tufts University (S 21) / Emerson (F 25) 

Performance / Gender & Sexuality Studies)

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Disability Justice for Applied Theatre 

Emerson College (F 26)

Disability Studies / Critical University Studies​

Camp: Humor, Taste, & Cult-Classics

Tufts ExCollege (F 21, F 22, F 24)

Gender Studies / Film and Media Studies

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Food and Art

Boston University (SP 27)

Food, Wine & Gastronomy / Performance Studies

Mentoring thesis student on horror & queer temporality on stage.
Junior Tutorial, Harvard College Dept. of Theatre, Dance and Media.

LGBTQ+ Theatre and Performance

Tufts University (SP 25, SP 26)

Theatre, Dance, & Performance / WGSS​

CONTACT
Looking for private workshops on Nonbinary Acting Methods 
for your school 
or theater?

Looking for an article on food, disability, and/or queer performance?

Looking for a speaker on gender performance or identity?


Contact me below and let's get cooking!
(I am actively seeking representation with literary & entertainment agencies.) 

 
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Thank you for contacting me! I'll reply soon!

© 2026 by JO MICHAEL REZES

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