From December 17 to 19, drama students from J.A. Williams (JAWS) High School in Lac La Biche went back to the 1950s as they acted out a theatrical adaption of S.E. Hinton’s iconic novel ‘The Outsiders’.
The performances were held inside the McGrane Theatre at Portage College’s Lac La Biche campus.
The coming-of-age story focuses on the complexities of youth and the conflict between two rival gangs, the Greasers and the Socs. The Greasers, who hail from the rough part of town and whose members include Ponyboy Curtis and his brothers, Sodapop Curtis and Darrel (Darry) Curtis, are fighting the wealthier kids in town, who call themselves the Socs.
The JAWS students who played the parts of characters from The Outsiders did very well in their roles, especially Amri McKay and Alice Cardinal, who took to the stage as Ponyboy and Sodapop Curtis. Other characters from the popular novel and later film adaptation included Jessalyn Berland as Cherry Vallance, Stealth Chikowski as Johnny Cade, and Josh Hansen, who starred as Randy Anderson, a member of the Socs gang.
The cast of the JAWS rendition of ‘The Outsiders’ acted against the backdrop of elaborately-built stage sets which were put together by fellow students as well as staff members. The performances also featured classic rock and roll tunes from the era in which the story is set.
Each year, JAWS drama students put on a theatrical production that is performed in the Lac La Biche Community. Last year, the school hosted an intriguing, darkly comical version of the classic board game and film ‘Clue’.