On Golden Pond

Synopsis

Every summer Norman Thayer and his wife Ethel return to their house on Golden Pond in Maine. Faces come and go - much like the loons and their chicks out on the lake - but the rhythm of life remains the same. When estranged daughter Chelsea turns up for Norman s 80th birthday, however, things look set to change. Chelsea and partner Bill are heading for Europe and want to leave behind Billy, Bill s 13 year-old son. In the weeks that follow, an unlikely, yet charming, friendship forms between the acid-witted Norman and street-wise Billy, but as the time comes for Billy to leave Golden Pond some old differences have yet to be resolved... This poignant and witty play - made famous by the film starring Jane and Henry Fonda - captures the simplicity of life on Golden Pond. Enter a world where second childhoods and second chances are still possible!

Our Review:

John Dixon - 27 February 2012

Ernest Thompson’s On Golden Pond is set on a lakeside in Maine, USA during the late 1970s and is best known because of the award-winning film version. However, for Richard Johnson’s performance alone, this current tour deserves to have the “House Full” signs up at every performance.

Retired Norman Thayer Jnr’s (Johnson) can afford to live a comfortable lifestyle, with a summer residence in Maine, which his wife and daughter have benefitted from, but in return they and everyone around has to accept the barbed heartless comments he often dishes out. His wife, Ethel, has learnt to cope but his daughter left home, her life away has included a short lived marriage and a series of relationships. But everyone else he comes in to contact has to accept that Norman is just being Norman, but underneath we recognise that his mind is becoming affected by age. But as he is reaches eighty, his health is deteriorating rapidly and Chelsea is returning home on...

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Latest User Review

Tim - 6 March 2012:

A Beautiful Production, with great performances from Richard Johnson & Stephanie Powers, one not to miss... A touching evening at the Theatre, so glad I made the effort to see it......

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