Last updated May 11, 2008   

Nickel and Dimed

by Joan Holden,
based on the book by Barbara Ehrenreich
directed by Johanna Spencer

Auditions: Apr 28, 29, 30, 2008
Performances: July 11, 12, 13m, 17, 18, 19, 2008

All it takes to make it in this country is hard work, right? Can a middle-aged woman survive on $7 an hour? In her "in your face" comic epic, acclaimed author Barbara Ehrenreich set out to answer this question. Joan Holden's stage adaptation of Barbara's odyssey working minimum wage jobs as a waitress, cleaning woman, and discount store clerk, provides an audience with a sobering view of the life a third of working Americans now lead. The characters she meets along the way show us how life is lived in the real world and struggle with a gallentry that humbles us all.

This urgent, soul-searching and hilarious adaptation is by Joan Holden, principal playwright for the Tony Award-winning San Fransisco Mime Troupe.

Cast of characters

• Actress 1/Barbara - Jane Donovan
• Actress 2/Gail, etc.- Karen Emmons
• Actress 3/Carlie, etc.- Jessica Carr
• Actress 4/Joan, etc.- Cindy Baughman-Roche
• Actress 5/Holly, etc. - Kelly Powers
• Actress 6/Hector, etc- Bernadette Feyerherm
• Actress7/Melissa, etc. - Miriam L. Royal
• Actor/George, etc. - Dennis Glidden

The director

Long-time ACT-or Johanna Spencer (The Rainmaker, Talley's Folly, Going to See The Elephant) makes her ACT directing debut with Nickel and Dimed.

Web links

• Barbara Ehrenreich's Web site
• Nickel and Dimed on wikipedia - about the book