Ernest Thompson's splendid play, "On Golden Pond," is a perfect vehicle for Ron Himes and Linda Kennedy, the Black Rep's two standouts for lo, these many years, and both actors deliver in a rich, compelling style in the company's new production, which opened over the weekend and will run through Feb. 5 at the Grandel Theatre.
Tom Aldredge and Frances Sternhagen, who won a Tony for it, were the original Norman and Ethel Thayer in their summer house in Maine. Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn were the movie couple, with Fonda's daughter, Jane, as their child, and Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews followed in a live TV production. James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams starred in a 2005 revival, with Thompson making some minor adjustments for an African-American cast. That script is used by Himes and Kennedy, who perform together as if they've been doing it for years – which they have.
Lorna Littleway's calm, unhurried direction is proper, and James Burwinkel's superb set, which looks as if it just stepped out of a copy of Better Homes and Gardens, adds to the effect. The result is a totally delightful production.
Norman and Ethel have been married for many years; he's about to turn 80 and is a former English professor, retired from the University of Pennsylvania. He's crochety and curmudgeonly, quick with the sarcastically simplistic response, outwardly seeking no affection while inwardly demanding it. Ethel, of course, understands him perfectly and loves him without restraint, but he seems to take pride in being difficult.
He's estranged from their daughter, Chelsea (a satisfactory performance by Kathi Bentley), and each resents the other. He wanted a son to fish with and to understand him; she wanted a father who would display affection and apparently has spent her adult life (she's 42 in 1978, when the play is set) seeking same. They have not seen one another for eight years, and Ethel is saddened, though she's just not strong enough to do battle with Norman.
Now Chelsea is about to visit Maine, a stop between California and Europe, with a new boy friend, Bill (good work from Chauncy Thomas), and the boy friend's 13-year-old son. Billy (a proper performance from Chris Cross, who needs to slow down a little). Of course, Norman and Billy hit it off to perfection, and Billy, obviously his father's son, is willing to stand up to Norman, at least for a while. The cast also includes Aaron Orion Baker as Charlie, the postman, Chelsea's one-time beau, a relationship obviously ended about as soon as she heard him laugh the second or third time.
Watching and listening to Himes and Kennedy is a joy. Like the characters they play, they understand one another perfectly, and they are such superior performers that their timing is absolutely delicious. I was often reminded of Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, the finest acting "couple" I've ever seen. It was a great pleasure.
On Golden Pond, a production of the Black Rep, will run at the Grandel Theatre through Feb. 5
— Joe