Elm Street Arts Prepare To Showcase 'On Golden Pond'

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Woodstock, GA -- Ernest Thompson’s Award winning play, “On Golden Pond,” is coming to the Elm Street Cultural Arts Village main stage.

The play will run Jan. 15-24. Many people are familiar with the show because of the 1981 movie starring Jane Fonda, her father Henry Fonda and the legendary Katharine Hepburn.

However, the show was first written in 1979 and had a run on Broadway as well as a number of national tours.

The play explores the challenges faced by a couple in the waning years of a long marriage and the complicated relationships that develop between parents and their adult children. Among other questions, the show ponders whether it is ever too late to say you’re sorry.

“On Golden Pond” will be directed by Elm Street newcomer, Jan Mary Nelson. Nelson has over 20 years of experience as a stage and film actress, acting coach and theatre director, and has served as assistant professor of theatre at Shorter College in Rome.

Prior to coming to Shorter, Jan was director of theatre at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee.

“The cast is enjoying the opportunity to dig deep in exploring the inner dynamics of the characters while making the most of the light-hearted moments in the script,” Nelson said.

The tranquility of Norman and Ethel Thayer’s annual stay at their summer home on Golden Pond is disrupted when their divorced daughter, Chelsea, and her new fiancé, Billy Ray, drop by and leave his son, Billy Jr., with the elderly couple for a few weeks.

Norman is a retired college professor with a heart condition and a sharp tongue. Ethel is ten years younger and a perfect foil for Norman. Young Billy gradually cracks Norman’s crusty exterior, and a relationship begins to develop, much to the consternation of Chelsea, whose own relationship with Norman is strained.

Through a series of conversations and events, the family comes to a new and more peaceful place. Set designer Brad Leak is bringing that peaceful place to life with his team.

“Brad has given the cast a wonderfully cozy ‘cabin’ on which to work,” said Christopher Brazelton, operations director for Elm Street.

The show will run at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15-24. Elm Street Arts’ main stage is located at 8534 Main Street in downtown Woodstock.

Tickets can be purchased online. For more information, call 678-494-4251 or visit elmstreetarts.org.

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Photos: The iconic characters behind Ethel and Norman will be played by acting veterans Teresa Harris and Justin Collins (respectively). Credits: J.A.M. Session Photography.