Most everyone knows the iconic 1981 movie, “On Golden Pond,” which starred Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, and featured Jane Fonda. It is about an elderly couple, retreating to their summer cottage in New England, eventually visited by their daughter, and her fiancé. Thirty-eight years ago, many of us were the age of that daughter.
Now, Hemphill Little Theatre, is giving us a chance to look at the original play which debuted two years before the movie. We can see it through new eyes as we grow old.Chances are, if you go, you will compare the Ernest Thompson play to the movie. That would be a mistake. The play, often sentimental, is also powerful. It portrays the decline of Norman Thayer as he is turning 80 years old, and is losing things, forgetting things, while his wife tries hard to hold it all together. And it is not easy.
Thayer has many bristly edges which were downplayed by Fonda in the film. But Randy Tomlinson does not softsoap the old man. He is extraordinary. He IS Norman Thayer. And he is a man we all recognize as we watch the edginess of many elderly people around us. But Tomlinson reminds us that Thayer is also an intellectual, a thoughtful man, who possesses a clever wit. It is NOT simply an old man going downhill. There are still more bumps in the road he is navigating.The movie also expanded the role of Thayer’s daughter, Chelsea, to give more to Jane Fonda. But under the skilled direction of Miles Harden, Jennifer Kiser as Chelsea, makes it perfectly clear how she felt about growing up, the daughter of such a difficult man who she calls by his name, Norman, rather than Dad.
Chelsea arrives at the cottage with her fiancé (Kellus Kiser) and his 12-year-old son (Tristan Hampton), shortly after the mailman, Charlie, (Tom Watterson) has left. He is a bit of an oddball, whose proposal of marriage to the young Chelsea many years earlier, was rejected by Thayer. Now, the pre-teen, Billy Ray, presents a new ingredient into the summer-escape home. He challenges and learns from the old man and they become buddies, reviving Norman’s interest in fishing.The anchor is Thelma Thayer (Kathy Tomlinson), a tongue-twister if ever there was one. She keeps up the place, tends to her husband, welcomes the newcomers, and enjoys looking out on the water as she listens to the loons when she is not fighting off the summer bugs. She doesn’t have to be Katharine Hepburn. She is Kathy Tomlinson and she is wonderful.There is the obvious confrontation between father and daughter. There are humorous interactions between Charlie and the others, between Billy Ray and Norman. But the focus is always on Norman. We watch and listen. We don’t always like him. But we know him. We hope we can avoid his missteps and accept his aging. I can’t say it enough times – Tomlinson is outstanding. Oh yeah, though we don’t see the pond, the set by Miles Harden is also A+.