Nuances of Night
written by Matt Lutz and Ambo Tazanu
Workshop Performance of New Two‑Actor Drama
by Matt Lutz and Ambo Tazanu
Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective is proud to announce the upcoming workshop production of Nuances of Night, a new and gripping two‑actor drama written by and starring actor/playwrights Matt Lutz and Ambo Tazanu. A workshop production occurs at the development stage of a new work. A workshop production focuses on the script and performer interpretations using minimal sets, costumes, and props to test, and gauge, reactions in front of an audience for where the play is solid and where it might need strengthening, before a full scale production is mounted.
Set in Washington, DC, during the early months of the COVID‑19 pandemic, the play follows the interracial relationship between Deja and Jared, two longtime friends whose shared history, emotional intimacy, and unspoken truths collide over several charged weeks in 2020, when the world was held captive by COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd. Their conversations about race, body image, and longing feel deeply personal yet deeply recognizable, especially for audiences who lived through the isolation and uncertainty of 2020. Nuances of Night invites audiences to consider how the events of that year reshaped our understanding of love, friendship, and the fragile boundaries between them. “Nuances of Night reflects exactly the kind of work we believe matters. It is human, complicated, and unafraid to ask real questions. Nuances of Night captures the emotional weight of 2020 while reminding us of the importance of connection”, says Different Strokes! Artistic Director, Stephanie Hickling Beckman.
Matt Lutz & Ambo Tazanu (Playwrights) met in Wilmington, NC, in 2001. They had an immediate connection. A year later, their friendship really took root when both found themselves living in Los Angeles. Both dreamers, with a passion for, and background in, theatre performance, they had numerous conversations over the years about wanting to work on an artistic project together. In the summer of 2020, that dream began to materialize. The murder of George Floyd, and the movement that followed, served as an invitation for them to start having deep conversations about race – for the first time in their nearly 20 years of friendship. Nuances of Night is the baby that formed as a result, and developed over six years from the page, to its first appearance on stage. It is also the first play written by either of them.
Matt Lutz (Jared) made his living as a professional actor and singer for more than two decades. His major film credits include A Walk to Remember opposite Mandy Moore, Bringing Down the House opposite Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, and Betty White and End of the Spear. His television credits include the upcoming Lifetime movie The Secret Lives of Bored Housewives, Dawson’s Creek, 7th Heaven, and Boston Public among others. Matt also starred for several years on the Hallmark Channel’s murder mystery movie series McBride opposite 5-time Emmy winner John Larroquette. On the stage, Matt appeared in the original Broadway cast (and recording) of the popular Frank Wildhorn musical Bonnie & Clyde. He also starred in the off-Broadway five-person cast of Around the World in 80 Days playing nine different roles. Matt grew up in the Swannanoa Valley and after living in Los Angeles and NYC for 15+ years moved back home in 2016. He is a real estate broker with GreyBeard Realty here in the area. He also directs, produces and writes (clearly!) when the opportunities present themselves. Thank you SO much to Stephanie Hickling Beckman for this opportunity, and to AmboNdem Atabong Awung Tazanu: taking this journey with you has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. I love you dearly. Also, so much love to my Clay. Instagram: @themattlutz.
Ambo Tazanu (Deja) …And so our nation’s capital has given us Ambo Tazanu, who brings her acting and educational experience to the stage. Formerly an actor with San Diego’s Lamb’s Players Theatre, she was a member of SWAT (Slightly Wild, Accessible Theatre), the educational touring company that traveled throughout the San Diego area immersing students in multicultural storytelling that explored different cultures. Ambo has worked for the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and trained with the Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists. As a teaching artist for Virginia’s Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning and Arts for Learning Maryland, Ambo continues to engage students through theatre, storytelling, and the literary arts. Early Childhood Education and Theatre Arts were her fields of study at Howard University. In 2025, her professor from HU, Vera Joy Katz, directed her in the play Skin Deep, written by Pamela Armstrong-de Vreeze and Dr. Lynda Crawford. Ambo graduated with a B.A. in Theatre from Geneva College where she performed Nancy Pahl Gilsenan’s play Beloved Friends – which was her favorite play until co-writing and performing Nuances of Night with her beloved friend, Matt Lutz.
