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Ernest Thompson’s not-new play, "On Golden Pond," about old age, loss and gain, is a very viable comedy, a very viable drama and an extremely accessible play for all-age audiences. What it is not, is accurate and honest according to our current knowledge of the aging process, the onset of Alzheimer’s and the neediness that comes with being insecure in our relationships. The good news, here, is that the current production of the play by the Oldcastle Theatre Company in Bennington, Vermont does justice to the play as written. They haven’t tried to impose new knowledge onto a lovely piece of theater that has existed for at least thirty years and pleased audiences for all this time.
The reverence shows in the work. Carleton Carpenter is as curmudgeonly as possible in the role of Norman Thayer, Jr. and Sheila Childs is his match as the pushy, bitchy and distressed Ethel Thayer, his wife. The difference in their ages is obvious and they playing out of their relationship reveals every problem their marriage has had that she has overcome with time. The two together may not make it to the Parents of the Year Awards party, but they certainly do what they must to assure one another that this relationship will endure in spite of themselves.
Childs has an almost childlike nature in this role. She plays the prettiness that Ethel has lost. She portrays a woman whose level of understanding has finally surpassed her level of tolerance and acceptance. It is a delicate line to walk, but she does it gracefully and it works wonders for the part.
Carpenter, on the other hand, has taken Norman from the frightened man we often see into a different world, one of extreme self-confidence and assertiveness. It is a well documented fact that Alzheimer’s victims often exacerbate their worst characteristics as they grow into the various stages of the disease and Norman in Carpenter’s hands takes that route. It is early for him. Early in the progress of memory loss and distraction. Norman has not yet been fully set on that course, but we come with the knowledge of how it works and we must fight that knowledge as we watch him course through his problems.
Many of those problems are played out in his dealings with his daughter, nicely played here by Melissa Hurst. Neither one has been satisfied with the other, but in the course of the summer portrayed in this play they bring about a change that, if the play were written today, might not be as realistic as it seems here. Her scene with Childs when they take each other to task is also a most memorable moment.
As the kid who helps Norman enjoy his 80th year on this planet, James Abrams does some lovely work. He has a natural talent and he is very enjoyable in the role of Billy Ray. Richard Howe plays the older Bill Ray, Billy’s father, nicely enough, but without any distinction. Likewise Patrick Ellison Shea meanders through the role of Charlie Martin, the mailman. Both men do their best and they cannot be faulted for that, but their best isn’t the equal of the work done by the four principals.
Wm. John Aupperlee has provided a lovely set and David V. Groupé has provided the proscribed lighting for it. Patti Brundage’s costumes are fine. Applause to Nicholas Garder for the Loons on the pond.
Not the world’s best play, but still a worthwhile endeavor, the work of Carpenter, Childs, et al, under the sensitive direction of Eric Peterson makes this show a winner. If the final scene suffers slightly from underplaying a potentially devastating moment, that’s okay, because it is summer and we like a happy ending in the hot months. It makes us all feel that much better.
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