These days, we call them "youth at risk."

Back in the 1950s, troubled teens were known as juvenile delinquents, and they threatened to destroy the bedrock of American society.

Gang violence, family dysfunction, teenage angst, love and friendship are just a few of the contemporary themes running through Surrey Little Theatre's (SLT) latest production, Rebel Without a Cause.

Based on the screenplay of the iconic, 1955 Hollywood film that starred James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo, the stage version of Rebel is intended for high school performances.

Rather than watch the movie again, SLT director Lou Lou Leroux dug deep when it came to researching the play – chosen in honour of the community theatre troupe's 50th anniversary, and as part of a bid to resurrect the theatre's summer youth program.

"I knew I wanted to stay away from the film," she said. "I wanted to focus on telling the story on our stage."

She sought inspiration by learning about the archly conservative era in which the play is set – the mid-1950s, a time when a buttoned-down, stiflingly conformist American society was just barely coming to terms with a restless new generation that wanted to go its own way.

"America was flipping out!" laughs Leroux, who says it's amazing the subversive movie even got made because there was so much censorship at the time.

While psychologists and parents fretted about the growing generation gap, and McCarthyism raged against the spread of Communism, panicky U.S. lawmakers instituted a code of ethics for – of all things – comic books, which were pushing aside squeaky-clean super heroes in favour of true crime and horror stories filled with violence, grit and gore.

"I was so excited to find this out," she says of the comic book ban. The revelation is reflected in the comic book look of the costumes chosen for the production – and in terms of character motivation for some of the parents in the play.

Leroux also tracked down the original source material: Rebel Without a Cause, The Hypno-Analysis of a Criminal Psychopath, Robert M. Linder's 1944 case study of a young man.

"I was so excited to hold this book in my hand. There were scenes in this play that came straight out of his life," she says.

While some of the play's dialogue hasn't aged so well – "Honestly, the adults come off looking foolish," Leroux says – the themes remain refreshingly relevant, and helped spark plenty of discussions among cast members once rehearsals got underway.

Rebel centres around Jim (Jack Blumke), a troubled loner starting over at a new high school. On his first day, a gang leader named Buzz dares him into a dangerous game of chicken.

Leroux says the story also critiques the out-of-touch parenting styles of the 1950s, offering a sharp contrast for today's audiences.

"We are so much more informed as a society about how to communicate and how to listen to children. I think we've come a long way."

All three major characters – the tortured, angst-ridden Jim and the two new friends he makes, gang member Judy (Loryn Legear) and young Plato (Michael Ringland) – share something in common: they each have major "daddy issues," Leroux explains.

Those destructive family dynamics play out against an environment infused with the menacing influence of gang culture.

"We looked rather closely at the attachments people form in a gang," says Leroux, who consulted the book, Hold On To Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate, in trying to understand gang culture.

"It really explores peer pressure and that what, as parents, we need to do is communicate with adolescents."

Staging a story with famous key action scenes, notably the tension-filled game of chicken, in which two characters race off towards a cliff in stolen vehicles, posed a big challenge for the director.

"I was most worried about that scene," she admits. To her, the scene is about "that whole transitory period of adolescence – leaving childhood and becoming a man."

Leroux originally envisioned shooting a mini movie of two little boys in a sandbox and somehow inserting it into the play.

Instead, she went with something a lot less technical – actors looking and using their imagination. "When that car is going off the cliff," she told them in rehearsals, "every one of you is losing something."

There are other violent scenes in the play, too. Thomas Potter, a fight coordinator who does a lot of local film work, staged the fight scenes in the production.

"It was a lot of work. The children had to be very focused and serious. When the knives came onto the set, everything changed."

The youngest cast member is 14, and the main youth roles are played by actors who are aged 19-21. Two of the young actors are studying theatre in Vancouver. A mix of experienced and first-time adult actors round out the cast.

When asked if the play will be set in the 1950s, Leroux laughs again. "We are existing in several modes. The adults are stuck in time and the kids have moved on."

Ultimately, Rebel Without A Cause is about getting young people and adults to talk, she says.

The play raises a number of issues from the '50s that are still with us, from youth violence and gangs to street racing, Leroux says.

"I just want to ask every kid to drag an adult to come and see the show, and I want every adult to drag a kid to come and see the show – and get talking."

Surrey Little Theatre's production of Rebel Without A Cause runs Wednesday, July 22 to Saturday, July 25. Shows are Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.) with a matinée at 2 p.m. July 18 (admission by donation). The matinée will be followed by a talkback session with cast and youth violence experts.

Tickets to all other performances are $13. Phone 604-576-8451 for reservations. The theatre is located at 7027 184 St.

- by Jennifer Lang

newsroom@surreyleader.com