"Christmastime is here!"

Linus, Lucy, and the gang will bring the Christmas cheer when the Outlaws Playwright's Workshop performs A Charlie Brown Christmas this weekend in 111 Forum.

The Outlaws have acted out the classic Christmas cartoon since 1994 at a variety of venues over the years. This year the group offers a more intimate, simplistic show, Cheryl Norcross (senior-theatre arts) said.

"We have this nice long-standing tradition, which Penn State passed down," Norcross said. "It has become a really sweet tradition."

Norcross is directing the play for the first time, but she has been involved with it for three years and is a producer. The play remains the same each year with every word, movement and gesture performed exactly the same as it is in the cartoon.

"The ultimate goal is to reproduce the movie with all its cartoonistic elements and characterizations and physically put it on stage, so that doesn't change," Norcross said. "Each year it's a new director, so each director puts their own little mark on it."

This year, there is a wide range of ages involved in the play.

"We have people from almost every year, everyone from freshmen to seniors, and a lot of people doing roles who have done it for the past few years as well," Christina Elefante, (senior-theatre arts), stage manager, said.

Sean Bradley (senior-theatre arts), a producer for Outlaws, has played the character of Linus twice before and will take on the role for one last time. How well the actors resemble the cartoon characters is considered in the selection process, Norcross said.

"His hair line is receding, so there's only so much I can do, but I hold the blanket and I suck the thumb," Bradley said. "It's such a fun show to do, and it really puts everyone who sees the show in a holiday mood from that point on."

Tom Pogue (junior-theatre arts) plays the title character for the first time this year. He is a producer as well and said he spent his Thanksgiving break watching the video and memorizing the lines and motions.

"I feel that maybe people might think of me as the spirit of Charlie Brown," he said. "I've got huge eyebrows, and I'm pretty sure Charlie just has lines."

Crowd participation is encouraged this year, because of the more intimate setting, Norcross said.

Attendees are asked to bring flashlights, if possible, and are invited to dress up as their favorite Peanuts character.

"Everybody kind of holds [A Charlie Brown Christmas] in a special place," Pogue said. "To see it live and get the reaction from the audience is great, especially since we're up there just kind of acting like a bunch of 5-year-olds."