ECC to wrap up 'Nickel and Dimed'
This weekend, Elgin Community College Theatre wraps up its production of Joan Holden's "Nickel and Dimed."
The play is based on the nonfiction best-seller "Nickel and Dimed, On (Not) Getting By in America" by author Barbara Ehrenreich.
The actors take the stage at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the 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. Friday.
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.
"Nickel and Dimed" is a glimpse into the reality of poverty-level wages, a life led by one-third of working Americans.
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.
The bright glimpses of Barbara's co-workers that enliven the book become indelible portraits: Gail, the star waitress pushing 50 who can no longer outrun her troubles; Carlie, the hotel maid whose rage has burned down to disgust; Pete, the nursing home cook who retreats into fantasy; Holly, terrified her pregnancy will end her job as team leader at Magic Maids, and with it her 50-cent raise.
Tickets are $10 for adults; $8 for students and seniors; and $6 for the 9:30 a.m. performance Friday.
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.