After performing stand-up for five years, Lily (DC Improv, Bob Sood M.D. Comedy Lounge) developed an hour-long set: The Lily Show. Her boyfriend and artistic partner, Matthew, is a writer and actor (Spooky Action, Venus Theatre) who “Follows the tradition of mediocre men riding the coattails of harder-working women,” he jokes, “I wrote a one-man show that compliments Lily’s stand-up. Both acts touch upon sex injuries and have a lot of material about my mom.” “She hates me,” Lily adds. “You’ll have to see us to find out why.”Tales of the kinky and non-monogamous worlds pepper the shows. Matthew tells the story of his father figuring out they spent New Year’s Eve at a dungeon; Lily shares about them being heckled during sex. But underneath the raunchiness, they reveal themselves to be just like any other couple. Matthew reads the card Lily wrote encouraging him to seek treatment for his depression; Lily vents her frustrations with Matthew’s friends.The two have collaborated creatively before. They co-wrote Ester Howler Legberg, a one-woman science fiction play that Matthew directed and Lily performed, and Couple’s Therapy, an immersive piece in which the two played themselves. “And both of our fingerprints are on everything the other person does. When I’m workshopping, Matt’s the first person I go to for notes,” Lily says. “And I use that opportunity to convince her to cut any joke that’s unflattering to me,” Matthew quips.

For the past year, the two have been part of the socially distanced entertainment offered by Nu Sass Production’s Backyard Arts. A household books one or both of their shows, and Matthew and Lily go to the household’s yard to perform. “One time the audience stayed in the house, and I yelled jokes up at their second-story window,” Lily says. “Like the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet except instead of ‘It is the east and Juliet is the sun,’ it was ‘There’s no one I hate more than a woman I’ve had a bad threesome with.’”

Nu Sass has been supporting marginalized genders in the DC region since 2009.

Nu Sass Productions strives to encourage marginalized genders in all aspects of theater, especially in those roles traditionally dominated by cis-men. Nu Sass explores how disregarding prescribed genders can change the overall experience for the audience. Above all, Nu Sass aims to create engaging, thought-provoking art while being a responsible local and global citizen.

Nu Sass Productions was founded by Aubri O’Connor and Emily Todd in 2009.