The Sidekick Players' last production of the season, Ernest Thompson's On Golden Pond, opens next week in Tsawwassen.
The plot focuses on an aging couple, Ethel (Bernice Fehr) and Norman Thayer (Dave Clothier), who spend each summer at their home on a lake called Golden Pond. During the year the story takes place, they are visited by daughter Chelsea (Rebecca Harrison) along with her fiancé Bill (Jeff Pannell) and his son Billy (Gabriel Wallace).
The play explores the often turbulent relationship the young woman shared with her father growing up, and the difficulties faced by a couple in the twilight years of a long marriage.
Jacqollyne Keath is making her Sidekick directorial debut with a production that stars some of theatre group's most notable actors and newcomers.
Clothier is a perfect Norman, just the right combination of prickly and snarky, while still maintaining a modicum of charm. Fehr, as his wife Ethel, is sweet, almost naïve at times, but still strong enough to withstand family tempests.
As a couple, their chemistry is wonderful. When she calls him "you old poop," you can't help but smile.
Harrison is sweet but defiant as Chelsea, while Wallace as Billy Jr. has the exact sort of 13-year-old awkwardness you'd hope for in an awkward 13-year-old.
Pannell is anything but a "country boy" as Bill, while Rob Larson, who plays Charlie, the mailman and ex-boyfriend of Chelsea, rounds out the cast.
On Golden Pond opens Thursday, June 5 and runs to Saturday, June 21 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings only) at 8 p.m. with one matinee on Sunday, June 15 at 2 p.m. All performances are at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre, 1172-56th St.
Tickets cost $18 for adults and $15 for seniors (60+) and students (12 to 18). Seating is limited and reservations can be made by calling 604-288-2415.
