Daniella Tebib
News Editor
“Nickel and Dimed,” presented by the department of global languages and theatre arts, gives a look into the lives of those who live off of minimum wage jobs.
“Nickel and Dimed” is a play based on the book “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich. The book details Ehrenreich’s experience living in three different states and attempting to live solely on entry-level minimum wage jobs for a month. The play adaptation depicts her struggles throughout her sociological experiment. It also shows the audience those she met along the way who live their everyday lives on entry-level minimum wage jobs.
Matthew Crider, director and assistant professor of theatre, said the play is about the working class and the lives they lead.
“It puts a human face on the struggle of the economic system we live in,” Crider said.
There are a total of seven cast members in the production and each actor plays multiple roles. Andrea Daniels, junior from Belleville, Illinois, was cast as Nita, a waitress; Carlie, a hotel cleaner; Melissa, a retail associate; an angry customer; a server and a nanny. Daniels said the play is thought-provoking.
“On the surface, it is about a somewhat privileged writer that wants to write a book,” Daniels said. “She tells her boss that it should be about the working poor and their struggles but he, as well as other people in her life, don’t see why. She goes undercover as an entry-level worker and discovers that the situation of the working poor is much worse than she originally believed, which angers her, fueling her need to write about it even more.”
When Ehrenreich’s book was published in 2001, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the federal minimum wage was $5.15 an hour. It was increased to $7.25 an hour in 2009 and has not risen since. The last time Kentucky raised its minimum wage was also in 2009 and it still remains $7. 25 an hour.
“Though the numbers have changed slightly, the issues have remained the same in the 20 years since Barbara first wrote the book,” Crider said. “The fact that these are persistent issues make it continually relevant. Many of the jobs presented in the production are jobs that college students have as they try to pay for their bills.”
Calissa Whitmore, junior from Owensboro, Kentucky, was cast as Barbara in the production. From her time working on the play, she said her perspective has broadened.
“Since I was an actor in this production, I had to spend some time researching and understanding what it would be like to live as a low-wage worker,” Whitmore said. “Just imagining and playing Barbara’s experiences on the stage has taught me that it is not easy.”
Whitmore also said she believes the production holds a lot of value for students on campus.
“It is important to perform this on a college campus because many college students are working for minimum wage,” Whitmore said. “They will not only relate and want change, but acknowledge they are not alone.”
Daniels is from Illinois where the minimum wage is $8.25 an hour, so the adjustment of working in Kentucky has been a little shocking for her.
“[The minimum wage] is $8.25, and I didn’t even think that was great,” Daniels said. “But a whole dollar less? How do they expect entry-level workers to pay rent, buy clothes, feed themselves and maybe their kids, clean clothes, etc. with 40 hours at that rate?”
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the suggested annual budget for a single adult living in Calloway County with no retirement savings or emergency budget is around $32,000. However, a person working full-time earning minimum wage in Kentucky earns only around $15,000 a year.
This is the third production of “Nickel and Dimed” Crider has been involved in. He said every time he is involved with the production, he gains a new perspective of those living on low wages.
“It always reminds me to try my best to treat workers in stores and restaurants with respect,” Crider said. “Although this play is not really about politics, my experiences with the show have certainly made me listen more closely to economic discussions in the news.”
As director, Crider hopes to open the eyes of audience members and force them to rethink some of their actions.
“It’s unpleasantly easy to make the working poor anonymous or invisible,” Crider said. “How often have you snapped at a server or a sales clerk? How many workers does it take to maintain the convenience of your grocery store?”
Crider also said he believes there is a common belief that all it takes to get out of poverty is to work hard.
“Looking at the numbers, the system is stacked against that,” Crider said. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I think it’s frighteningly easy to underestimate how difficult it is and that’s without emergencies like medical expenses or car breakdowns.”
Not only does Crider hope to make the audience question their actions, but he hopes they’ll make a change.
“If we’ve done our jobs right, our audience will start to tip better at restaurants,” Crider said. “It’s a small thing, but a tangible one.”
“Nickel and Dimed” will be showing at 7:30 p.m. in the Wilson Hall Studio Theatre from Wednesday, Feb. 19 to Saturday, Feb. 22.
