Robert Libbey returns to the Bangor Opera House stage after a 20-year absence in Penobscot Theatre Company’s 53rd season opener “On Golden Pond” by Ernest Thompson. And what a triumphant comeback it is for the actor who was a regular performer in Greater Bangor during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Set in the 1970s, “On Golden Pond” is the story of an elderly couple, Norman (Libbey) and Ethel Thayer (Dee Pelletier), who spend their summers at a camp in Maine. The play opens as they arrive for the season and ends with their departure.
Their daughter, Chelsea (Aimee Gerow), who has a rocky relationship with Norman, arrives with her fiance, Bill Senior (Dave Evanoff), and his 13-year-old son Billy Junior (Rowan Whitcomb). Charlie (Ben Layman), the local letter carrier and Chelsea’s ex-boyfriend, stops in for coffee and biscuits.
Thompson, now 76, wrote the play when he was 28 years old. It premiered off-Broadway in 1978 and moved to Broadway the following year. Thompson wrote the successful 1981 screen adaptation that starred Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn and Jane Fonda. Henry Fonda and Hepburn won Oscars for best actor and actress, respectively, and Thompson won for best adapted screenplay. “On Golden Pond,” filmed in New Hampshire, was Henry Fonda’s last film.
Penobscot Theatre previously produced the show in 1985 and 2008. The script the company used for this production is Thompson’s third revision of his original work for the stage.
The design work on this production is phenomenal. Everything from Dan Bilodeau’s set design to Gavin Kearns’ sound design that includes water lapping on the shore, loons calling to each other and a Dave Brubeck soundtrack, to Jennifer Fok’s lighting design, to Terri Moulin’s props and Michelle Handley’s costumes takes the audience into a Maine camp. It is warm, welcoming, familiar and comforting to Maine theatergoers.
Director Adam Kuykendall perfectly uses the entire set and keeps his actors moving. He made the wise choice to have them stay on stage during scene transitions. It seems natural that Norman and Ethel would rearrange items in their seasonal home rather than have stagehands intrude into their lives.
Kuykendall beautifully balances the humor with the realities of aging. Norman is 80 and struggling with memory loss and repairing a screen door. He and Ethel both climb the stairs carefully and gingerly. Although Libbey and Pelletier are both almost 20 years younger than these characters, their portrayals are perfect. As a long married couple, they tease and bicker with each while portraying the love that is the foundation of their relationship.
Libbey’s first production with PTC was “Alone at the Beach” in 1993. He went on to act in dozens of productions with the Bangor company along with Ten Bucks Theatre Company, Acadia Repertory Theatre on Mount Desert Island and Theater at Monmouth. Longtime theatergoers have been wondering when Libbey would get back on stage since he moved back to Bangor, his hometown, from New York City during the pandemic.
The actor captures all of Norman’s entitled and curmudgeonly behavior of a professor emeritus of a top notch school. Libbey’s comic timing is perfect as Norman enjoys toying with his future son-in-law and daughter. Yet he also beautifully portrays Norman’s fear over his loss of memory and what that means for his future. The anxiety comes through every pore in Libbey’s body but especially his eyes.
A native of Madawaska, Pelletier’s Ethel is a perfect foil for Libbey’s Norman. She counterbalances his cynicism with a joy and enthusiasm for life that is infectious. The actress also deftly portrays her frustration with Chelsea and Norman’s tense relationship that dates back to their daughter’s teenage years. Together, Pelletier and Libbey show the complexities of a long marriage with a sweetness that is palpable but never cloying.
Gerow, last seen at the Opera House in “Birthday Candles” in 2024, and Evanoff, a high school chemistry teacher at Hampden Academy, are believable as a middle-aged couple seeking a second chance at love and companionship. Both are wonderfully awkward in scenes with Norman about whether they can share the same bed while visiting. It was a big deal back then for unmarried couples to sleep together under their parents’ and future in-laws’ roofs.
Whitcomb, a senior at Hampden Academy and a member of PTC’s Dramatic Academy, is charming and funny as Billy. He holds his own in scenes with his elders and slowly reveals how his bond with Norman over fishing and reading grows into what most likely will be one the most important relationships in his young life. Layman is delightful as the affable mailman who never quite got over losing Chelsea.
PTC’s Artistic Director Jen Shepard along with this cast and production team have offered up a deeply felt and effective love story that looks and feels familiar. Spending a couple of hours with the Thayer family on Golden Pond is the finest kind of trip upta camp. Libbey’s return to the stage is a most welcome bonus.
Penobscot Theatre Company’s production of “On Golden Pond” will be performed through Oct. 4 at the Bangor Opera House, 131 Main St. For more information, visit penobscotthreatre.org or call 207-942-3333.