Performed April 10th - May 10th, 2008 at the Alt Theatre
 NICKEL AND DIMED
A play on (not) getting by
in America!
by Joan Holden
"[D]aring,
direly necessary and unapologetic activist theater."
Three Stars!!!
-- Colin Dabkowski, BUFFALO NEWS 4/15/08
click
here to read this review
"The re-enactments of
Ehrenreich's
experiences working one lousy, low wage job after another are disquieting and
all too realistic."
-- Joyce Kryszak, WBFO NEWS 5/7/08
click
here to read this review
"A strong
energetic cast propels the play through its episodic stages, and from the back
corners of the stage to the front, Director Virginia Brannon has gotten the
movement and clustering of the actors to a very smooth resolve."
-- Willy Rogue Donaldson, NIGHTLIFE MAGAZINE 4/21/08
click
here to read this review
For Subversive Theatre's largest-scale independent
production to date, we were proud to present one of the most important stories
of class inequality of our generation -- NICKEL AND DIMED.
This play was originally published as a
documentary book by progressive journalist Barbara Ehrenreich in 2001
chronicling her experience working various low-income jobs in three
different parts of the America.
San Francisco playwright Joan Holden adapted the book
for the stage in 2002 dramatizing five of the most unendurable jobs that
Ehrenreich undertook. The result is a play the follows protagonist "Barbara"
through the whirlwind of annoying customers, dickhead bosses, and flaky
co-workers that dead-end jobs notoriously attract.
While peppered with many uproariously funny moments, NICKEL
AND DIMED is ultimately a very sobering tale of the dehumanizing
exploitation that goes on in America every day. "The working
poor are our biggest anonymous donors," explains Barbara in the
closing lines of the play, "we need to figure out what WE owe
THEM."
For this ideals-driven production, we set up shop
at Buffalo's newest performance space -- the Alt Theatre on the third floor of
North Buffalo's Great Arrow Building. The post-industrial atmosphere of
this huge complex that was once the heart of America's Pierce Arrow
Corporation provided the perfect backdrop for our latter-day testament to the
travails of working class existence.
Apart from the main character Barbara, every actor in
the twelve-person ensemble played a dizzyingly wide array of characters.
Each performance was a wild frenzy of activity as actors emphatically dashed
to and fro with an endless litany of props and sets to conjure up this play's
ever-changing scenes and situations.
Turnout for this event was quite simply
extraordinary. Night after night brought standing-room-only crowds
throughout our unprecedented five-week-long run. The enormous audience
support and media attention that this project enjoyed was undeniable evidence
of how sorely this play's anti-corporate agenda is needed in the world
today. Here's the rundown on who did what:
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THE CREW
Director . . . . . . . . . . . Virginia Brannon*
Stage Manager . . . . . Hasheen DeBerry*
Set, Props, & Lights . . Dyan O'Connell*
Sound Designer . . . . . . . . John Shotwell
Costume Designer . . . . . Jessica Stuber*
Poster Designer . . . . . . . Michael Klemm
Web Designer . . . . Kurt Schneiderman*
THE CAST
(in order of appearance)
Barbara . . . . . . . . . . Moira A. Keenan
Gail, Customer, others . Jennifer Linch*
Hector, others . . . . . . . Afrim Gjonbalaj
Carlie, Melissa, others Arianna Boykins
George, Ted, others . . Justin Fiordaliso
Mom, Marge, others . Kelly M. Beuth*
Dad, Manager, Pete . . . . . Tom Izard*
Teen, Kimberly, others Stephanie Dale
Editor, Boyfriend . . . . . . Paul O'Hern
Joan, Maddy, others . Jessica Stuber*
Philip, others . . Leon S. Copeland, Jr*
Cashier, Holly, others . Jennifer Fitzery |
HOUSE MANAGEMENT AND USHERING
(listed alphabetically)
Brian Barrington*, Virginia Brannon*, Bobbi DeBose*, Guy DeFedericis*,
Keith Elkins*, Kathleen E. Foster*, David Granville*, Daire Brian Irwin*,
Michael Fanelli*, Marshall Maxwell*, Tom Scahill*, Jeanette Schneiderman*, Kurt
Schneiderman*, Amy Taravella, Patricia Topolski* LIGHTING
CREW
(listed alphabetically)
Hasheen DeBerry*, Kurt Schneiderman*, Carlie Todoro-Rickus*
NICKEL AND DIMED was produced with financial
support from the United University
Professions (U.U.P.) Buffalo Center Chapter and a grant from the
Arts Council of Buffalo & Erie County. We would also like to thank
the following groups and individuals for the use of space, props, and equipment: Buffalo
Federal Credit Union, El Buen Amigo Latin American Cultural Association,
Theater of Youth, Kavinoky
Theatre, University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance, Delaware Avenue Pizza Hut, Amvets of Hertel Avenue, Latta Road Nursing Home,
Buffalo Re-Use, Helen Demerly, John Izard, and Brian O'Connell
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