Who hasn’t held down that lousy first job that paid minimum wage: dishwasher, stock boy, supermarket cashier? It’s all well and good when you’re still living with your parents and just want to save up a little cash for a summer backpack trip. But what if you’re juggling children, rent, gas money and two jobs? That is the stuff of Nickel and Dimed, a lively play adapted from Barbara Ehrenreich’s bestselling book of the same name. Ehrenreich documented her experiences working undercover at a variety of low-wage jobs for the sole purpose of shedding light on wage inequality. The play offers an entertaining yet informed take on one of America’s most hot-button topics, and as fast-food workers across the US strike for a minimum wage increase, Nickel and Dimed couldn’t be more apropos. Directed by Brian Hansen, it runs for four weekends, opening Sept. 12 and extending through Oct. 5; showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays, 8pm, and Sundays, 2pm, at the Adobe Theater (9813 Fourth Street NW). General admission is $15, seniors and students $13. For more info visit adobetheater.org or call 898-9222. (Ian Wolff)
Stage Whispers Leader Of The Pack
Get out of the way.
Mother Road/Aux Dog
Mother Road Theatre Company and Aux Dog Theatre team up to take us back to the golden age of roller derby with Rolin Jones’ The Jammer, co-directed by Julia Thudium and Vic Browder. The story follows Jack Lovington, a regular joe living a dead-end life who leaves the rut of the factory line for his true passion—the bone-crushing fast track of roller derby. Gliding around in socks on linoleum this isn’t. Expect The Jammer to be Shakespearean in gravity, with the thrills, spills, blood, vomit and guts of a brutal ballet. So “Boardwalk Empire” on roller skates, then? Teeming with action, sex, passionate misfits and salty language, The Jammer starts Thursday, Sept. 18, and runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2 and 6:30pm, through Oct. 5. Grab your tickets now for $15 to $22. All performances roll across the stage at Aux Dog Theatre (3011 Monte Vista NE). For reservations and more information, visit motherroad.org or call 243-0596. (Marya Errin Jones)
