Emily Goldfarb (as Chelsea Thayer) embraces her weary mother Ethel (Candy Schapp) in Stageloft’s “On Golden Pond.”
As Telegram & Gazette reviewer Paul Kolas discovered, Stageloft Repertory Theater’s current offering of “On Golden Pond” treads new water in its interpretation of a tale known widely for its Fonda-ful 1980s film incarnation.
“There’s a gentleness that pervades director Gwen Mason Callahan’s interpretation of (author Ernest) Thompson’s venerable play,” writes Kolas, “one that is far removed from the arch emotional manipulation” of the movie.
The production fetched three-and-half-stars (out of four) from Kolas, who roundly praised all elements of the show, including the appropriately rustic set.
“On Golden Pond” runs through Sept. 26, with Friday and Saturday showings at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. A special matinee performance will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Mark Patrick proffers “a playfully embracing performance” in his “expansive portrait” of Norman Thayer, which dispatches with much of the get-off-my-lawn grouchiness that marked Henry Fonda’s rendition of the retired professor confronting his own mortality.
Candy Schapp is every bit Norman’s match as Ethel Thayer, imparting the longtime loving spouse with a “soothing, almost musical cadence,” according to Kolas. Playing the Thayers’ daughter, Emily Goldfarb’s “understated performance as Chelsea is one of the production’s surprising pleasures,” he adds.
The father/son tandem of Bill and Billy Ray are handled with aplomb by David Vilandre and Derek Brigham — with the latter’s performance pleasingly devoid of the usual “snotty kid” caricature, in Kolas’s words.
Kolas also salutes Todd Darling’s take on the lake-traversing mailman with the lifelong crush on Chelsea, engendering “great empathy” for the affable but soon-to-be-heartbroken Charlie.
Order tickets to the show by clicking here for the show page.
