On Golden Pond

On Golden Pond (1979), a play by Ernest Thompson. [New Apollo Theatre, 156 perf.] Ethel (Frances Sternhagen) and Norman Thayer (Tom Aldredge) have been spending their summers in their Maine cottage ever since they were married. Norman has always been a little crotchety and something of a hypochondriac, but now that he is turning eighty, he is sure he is dying. Their summer is made eventful by the arrival of their grown daughter (Zina Jasper), her fiancé dentist (Stan Lachow), and his teenage son (Mark Bendo) whom, after a lot of fussing, Norman finally accepts. As the summer ends the old couple pack up and leave, realizing this may be their final farewell to the summer home. This quiet, touching idyll reopened the old Apollo Theatre on 42nd Street, initiating a hoped‐for rebirth of the street that had once been New York City's main theatrical block and long had been given over to grind movies. The play originally had been produced Off Broadway earlier in the season, and later became a popular entry in summer stock and community theatres. Ernest THOMPSON (b. 1949) was born in Vermont, and studied theatre at various universities around the country before becoming an actor and writing plays. On Golden Pond was his first full‐length work to be mounted professionally, although an earlier play, The West Side Waltz, was revised and used as a vehicle by Katharine Hepburn, first on tour and then in New York during the 1981–82 season.

Themes of Mortality, Family Relationships, Marriage, and Generations All Play Out At Norman and Ethel Thayer's Small Lake House in Maine Beside Golden Pond. Ernest Thompson's on Golden Pond Has Been Embraced by Theatergoers Since Its First Off-Broadway Run in 1978 and by Moviegoers Since Its 1981 Adaptation. the Play's Believable Characters Are Engaging and Flawed, and the Curmudgeonly Norman Thayer Achieves Personal Growth Despite His Advanced Age and Slow Mental Decline. the Play Has Successfully Played Onscreen (Adapted by Thompson Himself) and Stage, with a White Cast and a Black Cast (in 2005's Broadway Revival). by All Accounts, the Play Seems to Have Universal Appeal.

Thompson wrote On Golden Pond at the age of twenty-eight. While he had been able to support himself as a working actor, he had gone a year without landing any work. This dry spell allowed him to pursue his interest in writing. Although he cannot say exactly what inspired the play, he credits his boyhood summer lake trips to Maine with his family as a source of special memories. Through a series of lucky opportunities, On Golden Pond was produced off Broadway in 1978. It was published the following year by Dramatists Play Service. Within six months, the play was in production on Broadway and soon in theaters across the United States. It was Thompson's first play to be produced. The film version earned him an Academy Award and opened numerous career doors for the young playwright. Thompson continues to write plays and television scripts as of 2005, but his reputation rests largely on the success of On Golden Pond.

On Golden Pond may refer to:

• On Golden Pond (play), a play by Ernest Thompson.
• On Golden Pond (1981 film), a film adaptation of the play.
• On Golden Pond (2001 film), a television adaptation of the play starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

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