BWW Reviews: Theatre Artists Studio Strikes It Rich ON GOLDEN POND

Intimations of mortality permeate Norman and Ethel Thayer's cabin retreat on Golden Pond. While life moves relentlessly forward, the welcoming loons ~ along with the resident moths, mosquitos, and spiders ~ offer comforting notes of constancy. If there are discordant notes in their lives, they resonate in the fear of creeping forgetfulness, the acknowledgement of aging and impermanence, the urgency of filial reconciliation, and the hunger to seize another day and pick another strawberry.

As the opening scene of Ernest Thompson's On Golden Pond unfolds at Theatre Artists Studio, I can almost hear Jimmy Durante crooning the September Song ~ "It's a long long while from May to December but the days grow short when you reach September...The days dwindle down to a precious few...And these few precious days I'll spend with you."

It is in the precious days between May and September that the Thayer's return to their home away from home coincides with Norman's 80th birthday and a visit from their daughter Chelsea (Dee Rich), with fiancé Bill Ray (Matthew Crey) and his son Billy (Emilio Cress) in tow. The visit is heralded by Charlie (Steven Fajardo) the local mailman with an infectious chuckle whose crush on Chelsea has never abated. While Norman fashions a relationship with precocious Billy and Bill seeks affirmation from Norman and Charlie reconciles himself to his fate, there's a distance between father and daughter that must yet be bridged.

In a beautifully designed and rustically appointed set (complete with cane chairs and board games and family mementoes), director Brad Allen has choreographed a sensitively balanced dance of requited and unrequited loves, supported by a marvelous cast.

Michael Fleck and Judy Lebeau have crafted an attractive and endearing portrait of a couple in the prime of their lives. Mr. Fleck's Norman is at once absent-minded but crafty, fatalistic but clinging to life, taciturn but willing to bend. Ms. Lebeau is equally grand as the stoic and resilient wife who faithfully abides Norman's idiosyncrasies. Together, Fleck and Lebeau are terrific and, in their distinctly understated but effective ways, offer a masters class in acting.

Before the sheets are spread again over the cottage furniture and shelves, there are tender moments that remind us of our fragility and the relevance of the imperative, carpe diem! And, before the lights fade, there remains another chance to greet the loons and hope to return.

Indeed, seize the day, and see the play! On Golden Pond runs through December 14th.

Photo credit to Mark Gluckman