Review: THE OUTSIDERS at The Home Creative Co.

I’m one of those rare individuals who was never assigned S.E. Hinton’s beloved novel The Outsiders in middle or high school. Now, the story and its numerous adaptations—including the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical—have become practically ubiquitous in American culture, and Chicago is no exception. The Home Creative Co., a performing arts nonprofit based out of Elgin, has brought their popular dramatization of THE OUTSIDERS from the suburbs to the Athenaeum Center in Lakeview. While the move to the big city and technical challenges have muted the production’s more immersive elements, THE OUTSIDERS features some notable performances from young actors making their professional Chicago debuts. The production runs through October 13.

Even those who, like me, have never read the source material will still be familiar with the basic plot of Hinton’s modern masterpiece. Set in the working-class neighborhoods of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the 1960s, THE OUTSIDERS—adapted by dramatist Christopher Sergel—follows young Ponyboy Curtis (understudy Alexander Garcia at the performance I attended), a member of the lower-class “Greasers” gang, who dreams of a more fulfilling life outside of the economic and social confinements of his hometown. When Ponyboy meets and emotionally connects with Cherry (Jamie McCalister), a girl from the rival, more privileged “Soc” gang, he sets off a chain reaction of jealousy and violence that causes him to rethink his understanding of community, brotherhood, and heroism.

I’m told the original Elgin production was performed in the round, and director and acting coach Jonathan James has done his best to hold on to the immersive qualities of that original staging within the confines of a more traditional auditorium space at the Athenaeum. Gang members rush through the center aisle, and several fights spill into the audience’s seating area. Depending on your personal preferences, the effect may be more overwhelming than engaging, especially during the show’s climatic rumble scene when the central conflict comes to a head. Several audience members bristled when hit with water from an onstage pool. However, Austin Kinser and Nick Pardo’s fight choreography deserves credit for appearing natural while also being tightly rehearsed and, most importantly, safe.

Other creative elements don’t serve the cast as well. Some performances and lines are so softly delivered that they’re drowned out by Michael Incardone’s otherwise pleasantly ambient sound design, and the microphones for several main characters didn’t work properly until the second act. As someone unfamiliar with the original text, I often struggled to follow dialogue delivered in hushed tones, especially in the play’s early scenes when characters and their relationships with one another are still being developed.

There are several notable performances, though, and some of them are even quite moving. McCalister makes for a sweetly winsome Cherry, and it’s easy to believe that her warmth and smile are what cause Ponyboy to seek something beyond the strict confines of his Greaser family in the first place. As Ponyboy’s best friend Johnny, Julian Rus nicely embodies the soft vulnerability of the most sensitive of the Greaser boys, and his tortured conscience is palpably felt in the audience. But the most pleasantly powerful performance of the show is given by Brick Zurek as the emotionally volatile Greaser Dallas. They maintain an imposing stage presence throughout the show, making it clear why the other Greasers both look up to and fear the character. But Zurek also masters the emotional nuance necessary to make Dallas sympathetic, providing the play’s finale with much of its affective power.

James and the Home Creative Co. deserve credit for making the leap to the big city with a property as well-known and beloved as THE OUTSIDERS, and it’s clear they have talented young performers that I hope to see on more Chicago stages very soon. But seasoned fans and newcomers may be underwhelmed by a production whose various elements leave it struggling to “stay golden.”

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