Waning Days of Summer in Maine 'On Golden Pond'

On Golden Pond by Ernest Thompson
Directed by Terrance Walsh
Set Design by Peter Cabot, Costumes by Paige Constable, Sound Design by Jeff LaMarre, Lighting Technician Justin Libby

CAST (in order of appearance):
Norman Thayer, Jr., Allan Mirchin
Ethel Thayer, Ruth Ann Phimister
Charlie Martin, Bill Felts
Chelsea Thayer Wayne, Terri Eoff
Billy Ray, Jon Bolduc
Bill Ray, Park Borchert

Performed at Deertrees Theatre and Cultural Center, Harrison, Maine, as part of the 8th Annual Deertrees Theatre Festival, August 23-25, 2007. Box Office 207-583-6747 or www.deertreestheatre.org

As the summer draws to a close, taking a journey to the lakeside cottage of Ethel and Norman Thayer, Jr. feels like an appropriate way to savor the remnants of the all too brief season.  Mellow activities such as reading, fishing, and strawberry picking, with the accompaniment of a chorus of loons, define the languid pace of each day On Golden Pond. Where better to experience this reverie than under the tall pines in Maine, the Pine Tree State?

Produced by Thomas Sullivan's Greenlight Theatreworks of New York City, the Deertrees Theatre Festival is wrapping up its eighth year in residence in Harrison. Almost, Maine, the final play in the four-week series, will feature Maine native playwright John Cariani acting in his own work for the first time, with performances August 30-September 2. Murder at The Howard Johnson's and Painting Churches ran earlier in the month. Other firsts this year include building the sets and rehearsing locally instead of in New York. Also, Deertrees was recently designated a "Small Professional Theatre" by Actors' Equity Association, and four of the six cast members in On Golden Pond belong to AEA.

Ernest Thompson's play had its Broadway debut in 1979 and he adapted it for the screen version in 1981. Starring Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, and Jane Fonda, the challenging father-daughter relationship portrayed in the story took on new depth with the casting of the formidable Fondas. Combine their natural chemistry with the talent of Hepburn and the popularity of the film, and the bar is set very high. The Deertrees production made a valiant attempt, but stumbled and knocked over a few of the hurdles along the way.

A retired college professor and his long-suffering wife, the Thayers have been summering at their cottage in Maine for over forty years. As they carry in their belongings and supplies and remove the protective sheets from the furniture, the couple talks about their neighbors and the history of the area to acquaint the audience with their life at the lake. Ethel (Ruth Ann Phimister) at sixty-nine has a youthful demeanor and a spring in her step, while Norman's (Allan Mirchin) gait is a bit of a shuffle and he is obsessed with death as he approaches his 80th birthday. Reflecting on the number of years they've spent on Golden Pond, Norman quips that this is "probably our last." They are visited by Charlie Martin (Bill Felts) who delivers the mail by boat and still harbors an unrequited love for their daughter Chelsea (Terri Eoff). She arrives from California with her dentist boyfriend and his 13-year old son in time for the birthday celebration and gets her parents to agree to let the boy spend a month with them while she and Bill go to Europe.

The first act, consisting of three scenes, provides a great deal of exposition and seems lengthy, but not much happens until the entourage comes in from the coast, bringing with it the conflict between father and daughter. That dynamic should be fraught with awkwardness and discomfort, laden as it is with decades of their disengagement, but Eoff and Mirchin play it too close to the surface, unable to show the layers of hurt feelings each character carries.

When Norman develops a warm, mentoring relationship with Billy (Jon Bolduc) in Act Two, it is the catalyst which allows him to accept Chelsea's apology. However, their reconciliation is not believable because Mirchin continues to sing the same note even as Norman is supposedly changing his tune. While Eoff has flashes of temper and convincingly reveals Chelsea's insecurity in the presence of her father, she too readily becomes cloying with him after they acknowledge their mutual dislike.

Phimister labors to shoulder more of the load opposite the less emotive Mirchin, but two seminal moments between them lacked power and luster, more or less defining the problem with the production. When Norman goes out to pick strawberries but returns shortly after losing his way, it seems like no big deal, merely that he is forgetful. Near the end of the final scene as the Thayers are closing the cottage in September, Norman appears to be stricken, briefly staggers, and drops the heavy carton he is trying to carry. This is a big deal for a minute, and then he goes back into his shtick. If the director had been able to build to a crescendo at this crucial point, the other flaws might have paled. Instead, the play limps along to its conclusion without benefit of a nitroglycerin tablet.

Local actor Felts adds real Maine flavor to the mix with his layered portrayal of Charlie. He is a simple man and no match for Norman's rapier, yet they share a warmth and understanding grounded in neighborly familiarity. Park Borchert infuses Bill Ray with California surfer boy sunshine, blended with understated sophistication and confidence. He is onstage for a relatively short amount of time, but leaves an impression. His son Billy Ray (Casco, Maine, high school freshman Bolduc) starts off as cool surfer dude and has a difficult transition to "don't worry, be happy" fisherman, but conveys genuine affection for his surrogate grandpa.

The Deertrees Theatre, with its rustic barn board walls, high peaked ceiling, and big screen windows, serves as a wonderful venue for On Golden Pond. The unit set by Peter Cabot suggests the living room of a typical New England lake house, right down to the fieldstone fireplace. Lighting is used to good effect to emulate the outdoors and the sound of the loons is evocative. Deertrees might want to consider amplification for the actors in the future. Hearing assistive devices are available, but not everyone can go that route and several patrons reported struggling to hear some of the cast. As the festival continues to grow and Sullivan and his crew strive to follow the models of the Williamstown and Berkshire Theatre Festivals, it's just one more element along the road to their worthy goal.

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