A ‘Golden’ moment for Heritage

Great plays often have elements in them that people can readily identify with, and even learn a life lesson or two from.

The 1978 play by Ernest Thompson, “On Golden Pond,” does this magnificently. When it was made into a movie in 1981, critic Roger Ebert is quoted as saying, “I left the theater feeling good and warm, and with a certain resolve to try to mend my own relationships and learn to start listening better. Watching the movie, I felt I was witnessing something rare and valuable.”

Many people likely will experience similar feelings after watching Heritage Theatre Festival’s production of “On Golden Pond,” opening Thursday at the University of Virginia’s Culbreth Theatre. Robert Porter said he jumped at the opportunity to direct the American classic.

“As a director, I enjoy working on plays that have this nice mixture of real feeling and really finely written humor,” said Porter, who is also acting in the Heritage production of “Moonlight and Magnolias.”

“You don’t get the opportunity to work on material like this very often. Most of our comedies are very broadly written, and most serious plays don’t have much humor in them.

“It’s a real privilege to have an opportunity to dig into this finely written drama with such a good cast. It has been a real joy.”

The play opens with acerbic-tongued Norman Thayer and his wife, Ethel, beginning their 48th summer at their lake home in Maine. Veteran actor Martin Beekman portrays the retired professor, who fits into the definition of curmudgeon as if it were a $3,000 suit.

Kate Monaghan plays the wise and devoted wife who becomes an increasingly powerful anchoring point for her husband as he’s forced to face his mortality and slipping mental faculties. The complexity of family life becomes ever more evident when the Thayers’ daughter, Chelsea, played by Cady West Garey, visits with her new husband and stepchild.

Longtime former WVIR-TV news anchor Dave Cupp returns to Charlottesville to play the role of son-in-law Bill Ray. Peter Balcke is cast in the role as his son, Billy Ray. Rounding out the cast is James Scales, who plays longtime family friend Charlie Martin.

The play, like Golden Pond itself, has a beautiful surface as well as a fascinating subsurface. Because of the complexities of emotions and depth of feelings the actors are called upon to project, Porter feels this particular play requires seasoned performers.

“In this play there’s a lot of what actors and directors call subtext — the feelings beneath and behind the spoken text,” said Porter, who is enjoying his third summer with Heritage. “That’s a sensitive and personal process, and the actors have to find a way to use themselves to bring these characters out.

“So the challenge is getting the actors to put themselves into these roles in a very personal kind of way. I’m very pleased with the extent to which this cast has been able to do that very powerfully.

“Dave, Marty [Beekman] and Kate are folks who are experienced both on the stage and in life. What’s going on in this play is something they all understand.”

Many people became familiar with “On Golden Pond” via the film version, which won Oscars for Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn and Thompson, who wrote the screenplay.

The upcoming presentation provides an opportunity to see the often touching work performed in the medium for which it was originally written.

One of the most memorable moments, be it in the film or on stage, occurs when Thayer becomes disoriented while out picking berries.

When the panic-stricken husband returns without any berries, he has to admit to his wife that the road he had walked countless times was no longer familiar to him.

Porter said the powerful scene is nearly identical in both the film and stage versions.

The incident becomes ever more poignant as the play advances, and despite Thayer’s diminishing mental capacity, he continues to grasp and learn the lessons life gives him.

“This is a drama about family relationships and feelings,” Porter said of the play, which has been produced in some 40 countries.

“It has very rich characters who are all extremely three-dimensional with a lot of depth to them.

“I think any audience member, regardless of their age, will see something of themselves and their own family in it. I think that’s one reason why audiences respond so strongly to it.”

Heritage Theatre Festival will present “On Golden Pond” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through July 18, plus July 27 and 29 and Aug. 1, 3 and 6.

Tickets are $22, $19 for those ages 60 and older and UVa faculty and staff members.

Students pay $14.

Tickets are available online at http://www.uvahtf.org, at the Culbreth box office or by calling 924-3376.

Details

“On Golden Pond”

Heritage Theatre Festival

7:30 p.m. Thursday; runs through Aug. 6 in rotating repertory

Culbreth Theatre

$22; $19 UVa faculty and staff members; $14 students

http://www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu

http://www.uvahtf.org

924-3376