Despite attempts to be a play, Nickel & Dimed doesn't escape from its bookish source. It is narration, with a Polemic basis, enhanced by dramatization, ending in a narrative wind-up. I remember when staged oral interpretation was based on literature, not sociology. Now most methods of interpretation are used to pass off narrative as drama If you don't believe me, just think of all the so-called plays in recent years that begin with a narrator and end with that person telling what happened after all the dramatized parts of the story have come to a climax. There's no falling action, just a tie-up or sometimes an admitted epilogue after the resolution.
The old method might still work if Nickel & Dimed is ever recast as a piece of readers theater. At Venice Theatre's Stage II, however, the telling and activities go on all over the place and at a frantic pace, lightened up only when the narrator misses rhythm and lines which Becky Holahan did way too much on opening night.
The set of various "stations" on points of a rectangle surrounded by audience on risers is obviously meant to help the flow from place to place of action and promote involvement. Instead, it and the direction by Carole Kleinberg keeps drawing attention to whether or not props would work and places could change easily and placement of characters and dialogue would come out coherently. Unfortunately, Joan Holden adapted undercover journalist Barbara Ehrenreich's book by eliminating from the start any modicum of suspense.
The original author was motivated by the 1996 welfare-to-work reforms. Becky (the Barbara character), set out to find if a middle-aged, middle-class woman could survive in jobs that pay a minimum or slightly better wage. Her conclusion seems to have been reached a priori. I found it surprising that she chose to work in Key West, Maine and Minneapolis -- all high-rent areas. She was first a waitress at a restaurant named Kenny's. At a New England inn she was part of a Magic Maids cleaning team (supplemented by part-time feeding of residents at an old people's home). Her last position was as a Mall Mart retail clerk. Rarely could Becky afford a decent -- if any -- place to live and other of life's necessities, much less extras. Her best (but not uniformly good) experiences were with co-workers, like Gail (realistic Julie Look) who taught her the tricks of wait service and Holly, who showed some gumption (despite needing her job and being pregnant) that promised a promotion. (Ali McManamy's Holly gains well-deserved sympathy, as does Laurie Colton as a cleaner and anxious mother trying to keep tab on her kids by phone.)
A young immigrant busboy, George, is played touchingly by Cameron Melchin. From the alcoholic cook to the aspiring-to-inspire retail "associates" manager, actors take on a variety of roles believably.
As a sociology course, the production manages entertainment. For theatre, the course remains in the wrong department.
