NICKEL AND DIMED
by Joan Holden; based on the book by Barbara Ehrenreich
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fall 2013
Directed by Brian Cook
Scenery, Lighting and Sound Design by Kade Mendelowitz
Costume Design by Bethany Marx
Technical Direction by Adam Gillette
Stage Management by Steve Keller
CAST
Barbara: Rachel Blackwell
Ensemble:
Melissa Buchta
Daniels Calvin
Nicole Cowans
Ian Hendren
Marley Horner
Katrina Kuharich
Nancy Nguyen
Can a middle-aged, middle-class woman survive, when she suddenly has to make beds all day in a hotel and live on $7 an hour? Maybe. But one $7-an-hour job won't pay the rent: she'll have to do back-to-back shifts, as a chambermaid and a waitress. This isn't the first surprise for acclaimed author Barbara, who set out to research low-wage life firsthand, confident she was prepared for the worst. Barbara Ehrenreich's best-seller about her odyssey is vivid and witty, yet always deeply sobering. Joan Holden's stage adaptation is a focused comic epic shadowed with tragedy.
Barbara meets with her editor to propose a book; he's into the idea that she should go out into the working-class world to see if she can make a living.
Her first job is at Kenny's, a busy diner in Florida.
At the end, all of the people Barbara has met reflect on their lives.
Barbara meets with her editor to propose a book; he's into the idea that she should go out into the working-class world to see if she can make a living.