'Nickel and Dimed' explores reality of poverty
Playwright Joan Holden's "Nickel and Dimed" comes to Elgin Community College next month.
The actors take the stage at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Nov. 2-17; and at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11 and 18 at SecondSpace Theatre at the Visual and Performing Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin.
A morning performance for school groups is planned for 9:30 a.m. Nov. 16.
The play is a glimpse into the reality of poverty-level wages, a life led by one-third of working Americans. The play is based on the non-fiction bestseller "Nickel and Dimed, On (Not) Getting By in America" by author Barbara Ehrenreich.
The main character, Barbara, is prepared for hard work but not, at age 55, for double shifts and nonstop aches and pains; for having to share tiny rooms, live on fast food because she has no place to cook, beg from food pantries, gulp handfuls of ibuprofen because she can't afford a doctor; for failing, after all that, to make ends meet; or for constantly having to swallow humiliation. The worst, she learns, is not what happens to the back or the knees: it's the damage to the heart.
Judy Laughlin of Wheaton as Barbara, is appearing on stage at ECC for the first time.
Angela Bend of St. Charles as Holly returns to the ECC stage. She is a founding member of ECC's Traveling Theatre Troupe and a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago with a bachelor's degree in theater. Some of her past shows include "Vanities," "On The Razzle," "Lysistrata," and "The Laramie Project."
Bobbie Van Hiel of St. Charles is also part of the cast.
Tickets to "Nickel and Dimed" are $10 for adults; $8 for students and seniors; and $6 for the 9:30 a.m. performance on Nov. 16.
Tickets are available online at www.elgin.edu/arts or at the ECC box office in the Arts Center. Box office hours are noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. To purchase tickets by phone, call (847) 622-0300. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are accepted. For information about the ECC Visual and Performing Arts Center's season, visit www.elgin.edu/arts.