Smith
Theatre Teams with New Century for Stage Adaptation of Nickel
and Dimed Oct. 20-22, 26-29
 NORTHAMPTON, Mass.—September
is normally a slow month for New Century Theatre, the summer
company in residence at Smith, which recently
wrapped up its 21st season.
But this September, instead
of closing up for the year, New Century Theatre (NCT) began
another round of rehearsals for a co-production
with the Smith theatre department, a collaboration
on an adaptation of the Barbara Ehrenreich bestseller Nickel
and Dimed.
Adapted by Joan Holden and directed
by NCT Producing Director Sam Rush, the production features
veteran NCT actors Sara Whitcomb and James Emery, who will
perform with nine student performers.
Written from the perspective
of the undercover journalist, Nickel and Dimed sets
out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform
on the “working
poor” in the United States.
The book reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity,
anxiety, and surprising generosity—a land of Big Boxes,
fast food, and a thousand desperate strategies for survival.
One day author Barbara Ehrenreich
decided to join millions of Americans who work for poverty-level
wages, inspired in part by the welfare reform rhetoric, which
promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone
survive, let alone prosper, on $6 to $7 an hour?
To find
out, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota,
taking the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work
as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide,
and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon discovered that even the "lowliest" occupations
require exhausting mental and physical efforts. And one job
is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live
indoors.
Time Magazine
calls the stage adaptation of Nickel and Dimed “a
rare example of theater that tries to open people’s eyes
to the way of life lived in the real world—and maybe even
rouse them to action.” Like the book, the play uses humor
to help portray with painful clarity the struggles of America’s
working poor.
“The subject matter of this
play couldn’t be more timely,” says Director Sam
Rush. “The
middle class is becoming less and less reflective of the
way much of the real America is living. So many people are
living paycheck to paycheck and have to work longer hours
and multiple jobs just to make ends meet.Nickel and Dimed is
a wonderful conversation about class issues in America.”
Performances of Nickel
and Dimed will take place October 20 through 22 and
26 through 29, at 8 p.m. each night, in Theatre 14, Mendenhall
Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets ($15 adults,
$8 seniors/students with ID, $3 for Smith students with
ID, $8 for school groups are available at the Smith Theatre
Box Office (413-585-2787, boxoffice@smith.edu) or online
at .
On Wednesday, Oct. 26, bring
a non-perishable food item and receive a ticket for
$1. Items will be donated to the Northampton Survival Center. |
