UC High students, staff, and families gathered in the school auditorium on December 4-7, for the UC High Theater Department’s fall production of The Outsiders.

   According to the Standard-Examiner, The Outsiders is a coming-of-age novel written by S. E. Hinton when he was just 17 years old. Written over 50 years ago, The Outsiders novel is still relevant today and is a popular book in high schools across America (standard.net).

    An educational school website states, “The Outsiders is a novel about a young man’s struggle to survive in a world filled with gangs, violence, and poverty. Ponyboy, the narrator, is a 14-year-old boy who happens to come from a dangerous neighborhood on the poor side of town. Ponyboy and his poor group of friends are collectively known as the Greasers. Their rivals, the Socials, better known as the Soches, are rich kids from the west side of town” (study.com).

   According to Theater Teacher Matt Moody, the cast used a script that was written by Playwright Christopher Sergel. “It’s a good adaptation of the book,” added Junior Julia Vaz Gomes.

   The Outsiders was picked as this year’s fall production because of the serious undertones it includes, said Moody.

   Funds from the ticket sales were used to reimburse the cast and crew for the expenses that come from running a Theater Program. “When you buy a ticket to one of our shows,” Moody explained, “you get to experience life through someone else’s eyes and get to ride with them, and not only that, but support the arts which is at the core of everything we do [in our community].”

“In order to immerse the audience in the play, cast members, technical theater, and the crew collaborate to design and build a set they believe best represents the era and zeitgeist [the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time] of the play,” explained Moody.

   “…Students research the clothing, how people behaved, what furniture and designs looked like, and what the culture is like to make those creative choices,” Moody continued.

  According to Freshman Francia Sanchez, “It’s really fun; designing the sets and clothes lets us express our creativity.”

   Technical theater is part of a pathway that students at UC High can take. According to Moody, technical theater introduces the students to the technicalities of a stage production. Set design, set building, lighting, and stage management are all things that are vital to a successful theatrical production.

   “There is a feeling you get watching live theater and seeing your peers live onstage that you can’t get anywhere else,” Moody added.