“The Outsiders” is a core memory students have from reading the book or watching the movie in middle school, and it’s coming to LT in the form of a play this fall on Oct. 30, Nov. 1, and Nov. 2 in the NC Reber Center. 

“I think a defining moment in your middle school experience is reading ‘The Outsiders’,” actor Delilah Pawlowski ‘26, playing Cherry Valance, said. “A lot more people are excited about it because they can connect to it really well.”

English teacher and director of the play, Kirsten Manthei, knew she wanted to do a show with a more male-centered cast this year. “The Outsiders” was deemed perfect because of the majority of boy characters and the engaging, relatable plot, and nostalgia around it.

Not only is it a very recognizable story, but the themes in the story are relatable to society and teenage life, actor Tommy King ‘27, playing Darry Curtis, said.

“I’m really excited to tell the story, because I feel like a lot of the issues that come up in ‘The Outsiders’ can be so applicable today in society,” King said. “I feel like this show is a really good show for teenagers to portray and also to portray in front of an audience.” 

Something special about their production of “The Outsiders” is that they’re hiring Pol Cooney, a fight choreographer, to help with multiple fight scenes. The plot has one “Big Rumble” with smaller fights dispersed throughout. Originally, however, the play doesn’t include the “Big Rumble,” but Manthei and the cast decided to take on the challenge of making it into an actual, acted-out fight scene instead of just having it be Ponyboy’s narrations, Manthei said.

“[The ‘Big Rumble’] is an important part of the plot, so we’re having [Cooney] come in and help teach us fight [choreography] and choreograph all the specific parts of the rumbles and fights we have in the show,” King said. “All the fights need to be very carefully and safely taught to all the actors so everything happens accordingly.” 

They spent a week learning the choreography, and they had a workshop to learn how to safely perform and understand all of the important aspects that go into fight choreography, King said. 

“It’s really cool because a lot of us here don’t have experience with fight choreography,” King said. “So it’s great that we get to have that experience here at LT to get to know a different aspect of performing.” 

Manthei echoed King’s excitement for learning that new skill and commended Cooney’s ability to teach actors’ fight choreography. 

“I was blown away by just how much [Cooney] was able to teach the cast,” Manthei said. “I’m really excited for these guys to learn that additional skill and have that under their belt.”

“The Outsiders” has a relatively small cast to begin with, and a lot of people auditioned, Manthei said. Not only that, but a lot of people who haven’t ever auditioned for a play decided to try out. This led to a diverse and exciting group.

“I’m really excited about our cast,” Manthei said. “I think our cast is a very interesting blend [of personalities].”

The cast and Manthei hope for as close to a full house as possible to make it the most emotional and realistic as they can, lead actor, Danny Callahan ‘28, playing Ponyboy Curtis, said. 

“The goal is to make the audience feel like we feel on stage,” Callahan said. “So for some of the sadder scenes, we want the audience to feel sad. For some of the more intense scenes, we want the audience to feel more intense. So I think the overall goal would be to make this the most realistic and audience-driven show that we can do.”

Their performances will be on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m., Nov. 1 at 7 p.m., and Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. in the Reber Center at NC.