Call of the Loons: ON GOLDEN POND at Spotlighters

Mention On Golden Pond  and you'll typically get references to the 1981 movie starring Jane Fonda and her father, Henry, in his sole Oscar-winning performance. "Pond" was the last movie the elder Fonda made before he died, and many speculated that the film was more about Henry and Jane's real life bonding and reconciliation than that of the characters they played.

But before On Golden Pond made it to the big screen, it was an award-winning Broadway play by Ernest Thompson. As Thompson himself noted in 2006, while "there's a tendency sometimes to make the play softer and sweeter than intended," On Golden Pond was originally "a study in dysfunction, one family's struggles with what we all struggle with-age, rage, regret, love withheld, love unspoken, disappointment, and ultimately, if we're lucky, forgiveness, acceptance and renewal."

Or maybe it's just about a bunch of loons.

Hillary Mazer's Ethel Thayer is just a little bit too enthusiastic about the appearance of the loons - a large duck-like bird that emits a eerie "yodel" - on the lake which borders her and husband Norman's summer home.

"Oh, Norman, the loons!" she nearly shrieks, dashing  to the window to catch a glimpse of the birds. Norman (Denis L. Latkowski) is too preoccupied with the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, his efforts to make sure his phone works, and the possible existence of non-Jewish dentists to notice.

A former professor, Norman is failing; he shields his fears by expressing his inner curmudgeon, and therein lies the humor that masks the "struggles" Thompson alludes to in his 2006 interview. 

Latkowski's performance as Norman is the heart and soul of the Spotlighters' production of Thompson's work. From his stiff body language of a man near 80, his wide range of expressions from impish mischief to boyish delight to stark fear, to his sharp delivery of his lines, Latkowski makes Norman the engine which drives the play. Norman is proactive; the other characters react to him and his acerbic, if not comic, observations.

However, Norman's power is illusory. He is completely reliant on his wife, Ethel (Mazer), who must guide him when he finds he no longer remembers the grounds of the home he's so treasured for so many years. She alone understands that Norman's less than sociable behavior is merely a protective shield.

"You're the sweetest man in the world and I'm the only who knows it," Ethel says.

The rest of the cast provide game performances; Richard Peck's Charlie Martin is a poignant study of a man who's spent so much time on the lake he is as much a part of the landscape as the loons. It's a life not without regrets, and one senses this as Charlie reminisces about his feelings for Chelea (Catherine Stalcup Herlinger), Norman's daughter.

Youth actors can sometimes seem a bit self-conscious in their performances due to their lack of maturity. Not so in Brennan Johnson's performance as the teen Billy Ray who quickly bonds with Norman as the two stand at the extremes of life's spectrum.  

Rick Arnold and Ms. Herlinger make the most of their somewhat limited roles as soon-to-be-husband-and-wife Bill Ray and Chelsea. Kudos to Roy Hammond who plays double duty as both director and set designer, transforming the Spotlighter's intimate setting into a rustic cabin on the lake, complete with hanging photos of Labradors, a small library, and antique-ish furniture, even creating the illusion of hardwood floors.

On Golden Pond continues its run at The Spotlighters Theatre, 817 St. Paul Street in downtown Baltimore, now through May 31^st. For more information, call 410-752-1225 or visit www.spotlighters.org.

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