On Golden Pond
This
is the love story of Ethel and Norman Thayer (played by Gordon Craig &
Aileen Ward) who are returning to their sum
mer home on Golden Pond for the 44th
year. He is a retired professor, approaching eighty, with heart palpitations and
a failing memory, but still as tan-tongued, observant and eager for life as
ever. Ethel, ten years younger, and the perfect foil for Norman, delights in all
the small things which have enriched, and continue to enrich their long life
together.
Their divorced, middle-aged daughter and her dentist fiancé (played by Alison Jones & Bob Stone) go off to Europe, leaving his teenage son (played by Adam Neap) behind for the summer, to visit them. The boy quickly becomes the 'grandchild' the elderly couple have longed for, and as Norman revels in taking his ward fishing and thrusting good books at him, in return he learns some lessons about modem teenage awareness, and slang.
Eventually, as the summer fades, so does their brief idyll, and in the final, deeply moving moments of the play, Norman and Ethel are brought even closer together by the occurrence of a mild heart attack. Time, they know, is now against them, but the years have been good and, perhaps, another summer on Golden Pond still awaits them.
By
the way! If you would like to hear the eerie call
of the Loon, used in the play to signify pathos, click the windows Media Player
'PLAY' Button below.
Use this link to see photos of ON Golden Pond Pictures
Original art work for the poster above was produced by Hilary Turner. Hilary produces original artwork for all Lucilla's publicity material.