Theater Review: ‘On Golden Pond’ In Quogue

When “On Golden Pond” came out as a movie in 1981, you felt you had to see it for the performances alone—and people did.

Three greats of the cinema—Katharine Hepburn paired with Henry Fonda, and his real-life daughter, Jane, playing their middle-aged daughter—gave it plenty of inherent interest. Furthermore, it was no secret that Henry had been unhappy with his daughter’s attention-getting condemnation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, adding piquancy to a story that centers on a strained father-and-daughter relationship. What could go wrong?

But even with the three going at it, the drama itself was flabby and sentimental. Both the aging Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn won Oscars as it packed in crowds, making “On Golden Pond” one of the highest grossing movies of the year. But that’s another story.

What about Ernest Thompson’s sentimental play of the same name on Broadway a few years earlier? It lasted less than four months and lost money. A 2005 revival with black actors folded even quicker; in that case the lead, James Earl Jones, came down with pneumonia. Yet backers clearly didn’t think it was worth getting anyone else to step in.

But that’s not the whole story. Where “On Golden Pond” has done exceedingly well is in regional and amateur theater, which brings us to the Hampton Theatre Company’s competent production at Quogue Community Hall.

Under the direction of Andrew Botsford, everything clicked as we have come to expect there. The acting is good enough, with two veterans of the troupe as the leads—loving, but endlessly querulous partners in a long marriage. Diana Marbury as Ethel Thayer, the understanding wife who puts up with her husband’s cranky and willfully forgetful temperament, gives her usual professional performance.

George A. Loizides, last seen here less than a year ago in “Alarms and Executions,” is Norman Thayer, the irascible retired English professor. He gets the best lines, but after a while his supposedly amusing contentiousness merely becomes tedious.

Is the man—at his 80th birthday—really losing it? Or is he fully in command of his faculties at all times, aware that he can be vexing when he chooses and get away with it because of his age? Whatever. Mr. Loizides’ performance almost makes you wonder if you sat down with him if he would still be that grumpy old guy.

The Thayers are settling into their summer cottage on a lake in Maine when the action begins. Norman fiddles with the telephone, is hopeless with chores; Ethel manages the household and accepts Norman’s foibles without ever being syrupy.

For local color and a sprinkling of lightness, the postman (Paul Bolger) wanders in, stays for coffee and reveals he was their daughter’s summer boyfriend for years, and still has a yen for her. His constant and annoying laughter must be meant to be humorous, but it becomes tiresome when the jokes are so lame. The role—that of local kind-hearted buffoon—is condescending, and simply serves as filler for whatever might come.

Chelsea (Jane Cortney) is the divorced daughter who lives far away, hasn’t produced a grandchild, and doesn’t come to visit often enough. But she will be there for Norman’s 80th birthday. Norman is what she calls him, rather than Dad, obviously pointing to the troubles between them.

Certainly it’s a setup that many of grandparent age in the audience will find all too familiar. Before the first act is over, Chelsea will arrive not only with her new boyfriend (Wally Marzano-Lesnevich), but also with his 13-year-old son, Billy Ray (Ian Hubbard).

Mr. Marzano-Lesnevich has the silliest dialog that goes on way too long, about whether he will sleep in the same room with Norman’s daughter; he yammers on about it with Norman, who doesn’t give a fig, and in fact, seems to accept it as a done deal.

The three scenes of the first act meander around with too much background fodder for far too long to tell us that there is simmering discontent between father and daughter, about what we do not know.

Mr. Hubbard, a junior at Hampton Bays High School, has numerous acting credits already, and fortunately for him, his role has meaning and purpose that becomes obvious at the drama’s end.

The obligatory makeup scene between Norman and Chelsea as she attempts to breach the divide is in and over so fast that any hint of intensity quickly evaporates. Deep feeling is absent; maybe Norman really is a dunderhead. We are left wanting for more. As the play dithers to an end, we understand the reason for their fraught relationship, and while that brings a certain relief, it’s left pretty much where it started. A final scene with the actors on stage during a telephone call manages to stir in some poignancy.

Yes, real life may be like that sometimes. Things go unsaid or speed by because they are too difficult to endure, or the people involved won’t go there, and there’s no real resolution—but real drama that does not make.

However, the audience the night I was there seemed to appreciate the restraint.

As always, the production values in Quogue were stellar, due to their able crew of set design (Sean and Ms. Marbury); costumes by Teresa LeBrun, and lighting (Sebastian Paczynski). But while that is pleasant, it doesn’t make up for writing that fails to stir the wounded breast.

“On Golden Pond” by Ernest Thompson continues through January 27 at Quogue Community Hall, 125 Jessup Avenue. Showtimes are Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., with an additional matinée on Saturday, January 26, at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 ($25 for seniors, excluding Saturday evenings), $20 for under 35, and $10 for students. To purchase, call 1-866-811-4111 or visit hamptontheatre.org.