Got some liberal guilt hanging around? Take it to Stages, where Joan Holden’s stage adaptation of the best-selling book Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America opens today. Centered on the depressing state of the minimum-wage workforce, Nickel & Dimed is sure to browbeat you (in a theatrically enjoyable way) for being able to afford your ticket.
The fictional play is closely based on journalist Barbara Ehrenreich’s real-life undercover reporting about the difficulties of making a living on $7 an hour or less. Like the real Ehrenreich, narrator Barbara heads to Florida, Maine and Minnesota to take on monthlong stints as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide and Wal-Mart employee. A five-member ensemble joins Barbara to commiserate as her overworked and underpaid colleagues in each town. See how the other half starves at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesdays, Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Starts: May 24. Continues through June 11
This article appears in May 18-24, 2006.