The summer reading program at Seton Hill University (SHU) is a normal part of the start of the academic year. Incoming freshmen are assigned a book to read over the course of the summer and come back for a discussion on the book in the fall.
This year, however, there was a different spin put on the book assigned for the summer reading program. Not only was the book selected from a different genre than the traditional novels of before, but a theatrical adaptation of it will be the first play performed this season by Reeves Theatre.
The book chosen for this year’s summer reading was called “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich. The story explores the world of trying to live on minimum wage by having Ehrenreich go undercover and work several minimum wage jobs.
By Rachel Prichard,
Staff Writer
The summer reading program at Seton Hill University (SHU) is a normal part of the start of the academic year. Incoming freshmen are assigned a book to read over the course of the summer and come back for a discussion on the book in the fall.
This year, however, there was a different spin put on the book assigned for the summer reading program. Not only was the book selected from a different genre than the traditional novels of before, but a theatrical adaptation of it will be the first play performed this season by Reeves Theatre.
The book chosen for this year’s summer reading was called “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich. The story explores the world of trying to live on minimum wage by having Ehrenreich go undercover and work several minimum wage jobs.
She attempts to pay rent, buy food, and live on her wages of $6 to $7 per hour, as so many people in the lower class of America do on a daily basis. The book attacks the issue of the minimum wage workforce in a journalistic way that is entirely the author’s personal experience with real individuals.
As a play “Nickel and Dimed” was actually adapted to script by Joan Holden and first put on in 2002 by the Intiman Theater Company in Seattle. It traveled through several theater companies and has now come to the Seton Hill Theatre Program.
The play was chosen by a committee that includes: Curt Scheib, professor of music and chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Division, the entire faculty of the theatre department, and two to three students. The committee brings in ideas for plays and decides which plays would fit the needs of the program and interest of the students.
The idea of doing “Nickel and Dimed” was proposed by Associate Professor of Theatre and Director of the Theatre Program, Terry Brino-Dean. Brino-Dean is also directing this production.
“I think we were all in agreement because it fit with university programming this year, that it was a really good year to consider doing the script, “ said Denise Pullen, associate professor of theatre, who was also a part of the committee.
Putting on an adapted play from a nonfiction book includes taking a 200-page, narrative book and making it into a stage play – a difficult task for anyone involved in production.
“The real challenge is staging a play as it’s written because you need to have a lot of locations,” said Brino-Dean.
In adapting the book to a script, Holden combines locations and compresses time and certain situations. There may be two situations that happen in the book, and Holden will combine them into one scene to save time. Also, several different people in the book could be made into one character for the play.
“The playwright does what she can to compress things and make it easier to stage, but it’s still going to be a challenge. There are things that are done to make it a more effective play,” said Brino-Dean.
Nickel and Dimed opens October 5 and runs through October 13.
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