Elgin troupe’s ‘The Outsiders’ a moving story of teen survival

Teens in rival groups battle for supremacy and survival. That could be the high-level description of many books, plays and musicals, including “West Side Story,” but Susan Eloise Hinton’s 1967 young-adult novel, “The Outsiders,” also should be one of the first titles you think of.

The 57-year-old story repeatedly enjoys a resurgence in popularity, the plot being adapted for a 1983 movie starring C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio and others; a new Broadway musical that this month won the Best Musical Tony Award; and a 1990 non-musical play by Christopher Sergel now on stage through July 7 at the Elgin Art Showcase.

While I haven’t read the book, seen the film or experienced the musical, the Independent Players production in Elgin does a good job bringing this dramatic story to life in an in-the-round staging that gives the audience a close-up view of the internal and external turmoil the characters are experiencing in 1960s Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Our hero, Ponyboy (Liam Pietrzyk), narrates the play. He’s a sensitive, 14-year-old “Greaser” who gets good grades and lives with his two older brothers, Sodapop (Jose Yantin Jr.) and Darry (Brandon Frederick). Their parents died before the events of the play, and Darry, the oldest, has to serve as a strict substitute parent.

All three – along with friends Two-Bit (Julian Rus), Dallas (Brick Zurek) and Johnny (played by understudy Alexander Garcia at the performance I attended, and by Nick LeMaster at other performances) – are part of that Greasers group, and they’re considered outsiders by the more upper-class “Socials” like Bob (Bob Di Leo) and Randy (Clark Cheatham). The Socials have no qualms about attacking Greasers whenever one or two of them are by themselves. We soon learn that Johnny was given a horrible beating by Socials in the past, something so traumatic that he tells Ponyboy he’d rather kill himself than go through another assault.

Ponyboy, Johnny, the coarse Dallas and self-centered Two-Bit are more on the radar of the Socials than usual, when they have conversations with Bob and Randy’s girlfriends, Cherry (Jamie McCalister) and Marcia (played by understudy Bailey Rhyse Walters at this performance, by Olivia Kaye Da Silva at others), at the local movie theater. Cherry seems genuinely interested in bridging the gap between the two groups – or at least understanding it – and she and Ponyboy talk about the problems they face. In the words of Cherry: “You think the Socials have it made. Things are tough all over.”

When Ponyboy and Johnny subsequently are attacked, and Ponyboy is in danger of being drowned, Johnny fatally stabs one of the Socials. That sets the remainder of the play in action, with Dallas helping Ponyboy and Johnny flee, at least temporarily.

Under the direction of Jonathan Horn and Barry Norton, the young actors in this production are impressive, especially Pietrzyk, Frederick, Zurek, Garcia and McCalister, who all make you care about their characters’ survival in an environment where that’s by no means guaranteed. Cheatham, whose character eventually sees the senselessness of violence and the tragic result of their war with the Greasers, is the fight captain for this “Outsiders” production, working with fight choreographer Jim Shedd. The use of strobe lights during a key rumble between the two groups helps spotlight (literally) the stage fighting they shepherded.

Many of the actors are making their Independent Players debuts (Zurek, Yantin, McCalister, William Athow as a doctor, John Pietrzyk as Mr. Syme and Jerry, and Leonard Serrahima, Alastair Blevins, Aodhan Bard and John Delaney as four members of the Socials). Nadine Franklin and Maya Gonzalez round out the cast. Congratulations to all and to Rus, whose bio says he’s “ecstatic to be a part of his first play.”

A few items do need improvement, in my opinion, including:

• There should be an announcement at the start of the show when understudies are being used (in the program, which has cast bios but not headshots, both Garcia and Walters – along with Carson Kelley – are listed as understudying at least two different roles). The audience should know who’s portraying each character, and the understudies deserve recognition.

• Better timing is needed in scene changes between the stage crew, actors and lighting staff, so lights don’t come up too soon (while crew members are still moving set pieces) or too late (after actors already have started delivering lines in the dark).

• Some actors need to project their voices more, whether their microphones are functioning or not. With audience members on all four sides of the stage, some key dialogue will be missed if each actor doesn’t focus on enunciation and volume. Voices also were competing with the noise of electric fans (necessary because of the theater being warm enough that multiple audience members were fanning themselves with programs).

With those alterations, what is currently a very good coming-of-age, class-conflict drama can become an excellent play for audience members who are in their teens or older. To summarize: don’t wait for the musical of “The Outsiders” to get to the Chicago area. Just check out this well-acted local production, or you’ll be the outsider.

• Paul Lockwood is a communications consultant at Health Care Service Corporation in Chicago, as well as a local theater actor, singer, award-winning columnist, Grace Lutheran Church (Woodstock) and Toastmasters member, and past president of TownSquare Players. He and his wife have lived in Woodstock for over 23 years.

IF YOU GO

• WHAT: “The Outsiders”

• WHERE: Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., eighth floor, Elgin

• WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through July 7

• INFORMATION: independentplayers.org/buy-tickets