Jack Firneno, the Wire
On Golden Pond relies on subtlety. Exposition unfolds slowly and organically through casual conversation, or lack thereof. There are quiet moments, and several times where one person wanders the stage in silence. Even a relatively heated conversation and what could be a cataclysmic event never boil over; they just bubble a little before returning to a light simmer.
The play relies on a delicate balance, and the task to create it rests almost completely on the actors’ shoulders. And, performing through Aug. 2 on one of the Bucks County Playhouse’s most expansive and ornate sets, they largely succeed.
Directed by Jonathan Silverstein, On Golden Pond takes place over four months at the summer home of the elderly couple Norman and Ethel Thayer. It’s the year their estranged daughter visits with her fiancee and his son, and the younger couple agrees to leave the boy with Norman and Ethel while they visit Europe.
From there, the play explores the various dynamics between the characters, particularly between the aging married couple and their daughter’s relationship to each of them. There’s little in the way of flash or frenetic action, save for a few comedic moments, and most of the conflict is only hinted at rather than played out.
It’s on the six-person cast, then, to make it all work. And work they do, playing point and counterpoint to each other, shifting tone on a dime, and convey the sense of history and strong emotions that lurk just underneath the dialogue.
It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the onstage couple, Norman and Ethel, — played by Keir Dullea, perhaps best known as astronaut David Bowman in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, and stage and television veteran Mia Dillon, respectively — are also married in real life.
The couple glides seamlessly through playful, and occasionally not-so-playful, bickering, poignant conversations and comedic set pieces. Dullea at first seems a little lost and out of place on the stage. Once his character gets to sit down and riff on his wife’s lines, however, he reveals the acute sense of timing and delivery he’d previously been holding back. Later, there’s a great exchange between Dullea and Todd Cerveris as his daughter’s fiance.
In contrast, Dillon plays a sweet grandmotherly figure to her husband’s cranky old man. There’s warmth in the way she putters around the stage, and a cozy crack in her voice.
Between the two is Christa Scott-Reed. As the couple’s grown daughter who refers to her parents as “Mommy” and “Norman,” she’s tasked with channeling facets of their contrasting personalities into her own performance while reacting differently to each.
Scott-Reed strikes a delicate balance, and her best moments are ones with no dialogue. The tension is nearly palpable when she and Dullea are finally onstage alone together. And, in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, she creates a sense of warmth and affection just by sitting comfortably alongside Dillon.
However, when the balance is this delicate it’s easy to lose it, and that does happen occasionally. There are times when the sudden shifts between lighthearted and serious moments feel organic, but a few are jarring. And, a few stumbled lines were especially apparent during quieter moments.
But for better or worse, this occurs on a set that makes the stage at the Bucks County Playhouse seems larger than ever. The last two productions here were fast-paced musicals that made great use of the theater’s newly restored turntable to quickly shift settings without breaking the action.
The movements were fluid, but required comparatively smaller sets than the one for On Golden Pond to do so. For this slower, more contemplative production, the stage boasts an immense, immersive layout.
It’s essentially the living room of the Thayers’ cottage, with hundreds of books on the shelves and dozens of knick knacks on the walls. It reaches up higher than you’d think it could, and out toward the audience. The exterior behind it, a hazy lakeside view with trees seen through windows and a screen door, creates an impressive sense of depth.
Ironically, as big as it is, the set almost can’t contain the scenes within it. Characters often walk in and out the doors on the set, look out past the audience, and listen to what’s happening “outside.”
But even with an expansive stage, On Golden Pond is ultimately a showcase for the cast, who manage to make this easily the most intimate production at the Playhouse this year.
On Golden Pond is playing at the Bucks County Playhouse, 70 South Main St. in New Hope, through Aug. 2. For information or to order tickets, call 215.862.2121 or visit www.bcptheater.org.
