Spare Some Change?

For those who think poverty is a choice, allow me to recommend the book Nickel and Dimed, in which the author, a journalist named Barbara Ehrenreich, works as a waitress, a cleaning woman, a nursing home aide and a Wal-Mart clerk to prove that poverty is not the result of laziness, stupidity or drug addiction, as most Republicans like to believe. In Ehrenreich's words, "It's a major flaw in our economic system that creates poverty."

"It really is the perfect time for a play like Nickel and Dimed," director Jonathan Taylor says, "because I think it is important for us to acknowledge that we as a society have put mechanisms in place designed to keep people, particularly the working poor, in their place." The 1998 New York Times best seller has been adapted for the stage by veteran playwright Joan Holden and premieres in Dallas at 8 p.m. Friday in the Heldt/Hall Theater at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary, 3120 McKinney Ave. in Uptown, running through May 20. Tickets range from $15 to $20. Call the Kitchen Dog Theater box office at 214-953-1055 or visit kitchendogtheater.org.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.; Wed., May 3, 8 p.m.; Wed., May 17, 8 p.m. Starts: April 21. Continues through May 20