On Golden Pond at The Arts at Angeloria’s

On Golden Pond is a play that hinges on passing seasons; the seasons of the year, the seasons of the family and the seasons of ones life. Seasons of irritation and bug bites pass into seasons of new understanding and a balm-like redemption.Nigh on 80 and in the winter of his life, Norman Thayer, a retired English professor and his wife of many years, Ethel, make their annual summer retreat to their cottage deep in the Maine woods. Norman is feeling the chill wind of his own mortality and, frustrated with his failing body and memory, he compensates with a mordant, blustery humor rooted poignantly in his fears of dying. The patient spouse is Ethel, accustomed after many years of marriage to indulge the whims of her temperamental husband, but not without her own wry, down-to-earth asides. Ethel is Normans perfect foil and companion and theirs is undoubtedly a long love story, a relationship as warm and comfortable as an old cardigan. The real dramatic action of the play starts when their daughter arrives on the scene with her fiance and his son and family tensions and failures are exposed.discomfort. Chelsea balances make-the-best-of-it, forced, good cheer with a resentment impossible to contain. She arrives with her mild, dentist fianc, Bill, to drop off his son, Billy, to stay with her parents while they take some time to themselves in Europe. The story and themes attracted Henry and Jane Fonda and Katharine Hepburn to make the film version in 1981. It won them both Academy Awards.

Authors

• Ernest Thompson

Tony Awards and Nominations for On Golden Pond