Written by Ernest Thompson
Directed by Leanne Wolden Hanson
Norman, a retired professor, nearing eighty,
with heart palpitations and a failing memory, returns with his wife for their
annual summer retreat On Golden Pond. Ethel, ten years younger, and the perfect foil
for Norman’s dry, cynical nature, delights in all the small things that enrich
her every waking moment. An unexpected
visit from their somewhat estranged, middle-aged daughter, her new fiancé and
his surly teenage son, stirs up old father-daughter failures and resentments. Ethel
persuades the reluctant Norman to allow the boy to stay with them, while the
couple vacations in Europe…..and she quietly marvels as both husband and teen
are challenged and changed by their time together. As the
summer wanes, Ethel comes face to face with the fragile preciousness of life,
when Norman suffers a mild heart attack.
Time, they know, is now against them, but the years have been good and,
perhaps, another summer On Golden Pond awaits.