Photo Source: Tim Dietlein
The charm of "On Golden Pond" is in its wry exploration of the everyday and how relationships weather that over time. As the crotchety Norman Thayer Jr., who's come with his wife of 40-something years to begrudgingly spend the summer at their family cottage in Maine, Prine is pretty delightful. He's got a doddering, dry delivery that works well, even when revealing his racist and anti-Semitic bent. The lovely Jens is rather a fluttery spirit as his wife, Ethel, but they've got tender moments together that are grounded and wonderful. They've also got far too many line mishaps and awkward pauses in which Jens in particular seems lost.
Gloria Gifford's slow-moving scene changes and sometimes bewildering staging on Tim Dietlein's attractive arena setting don't help matters much. But after visits by Charlie, the neighborhood postman (a disturbing Bill Stevenson), and Norman and Ethyl's estranged daughter, Chelsea (Brenda Dietlein), we're introduced to new arrivals: Chelsea's fiancé, Bill (Blake Boyd), and his 13-year-old son, Billy Ray (Adam Simon Krist). Boyd is dynamic and funny in what could be a forgotten turn; his confrontation with Prine is one of the show's highlights. Krist is also swell as the young stranger–turned–fishing buddy, and his bond with Norman is downright adorable. While the production definitely takes a lighthearted approach and doesn't delve too deeply into these newly forged relationships, it works.
Somewhat trickier is Chelsea's thorny bond with Norman. Dietlein's accounts of Chelsea's teary confessions to her mother and olive branch to her father don't give us quite what we need. But "On Golden Pond" is a well-crafted, familiar story, after all, so an unexpected but welcomed "I love you" still brings tears to our eyes.
Presented by and at Glendale Centre Theatre, 324 N. Orange St., Glendale, July 12–Aug. 11. Thu. and Fri. 8 p.m.; Sat. 3 and 8 p.m. (Additional performances Sun., July 22 and 29, 3 p.m.) (818) 244-8481 or www.glendalecentretheatre.com.
