On Golden Pond, by Ernest Thompson is a sentimental and ultimately very moving play about diminishment in old age, as an elderly couple spend their last summer in Maine. Thompson's words are bright and insightful in the very realistic conversations between James Earl Jones and the beautiful Leslie Uggams as Jones' character, a man who is "losing it," expresses his anger and frustrations. In the beginning, it's homey dialogue but seems to be directed, by Leonard Foglia, at a snail's pace (which picks up later).
Jones is a great performer, and he sure does "perform" in this play. He plays all of his lines loudly and clearly - it's wonderful to be in the presence of this powerful, charismatic man whose every word can be clearly understood. Uggams keeps up with him as well as one can banter with a hurricane, and Craig Bockhorn brings a touch of the authentic Maine to his postman. When the more realistic Linda Powell, playing their estranged daughter, and her boyfriend, played by Peter Francis James, show up, they are like a breath of fresh air in the face of Jones' pontificating, and young Alexander Mitchell is fine as the almost-grandson. Set by Ray Klausen, costumes by Jane Greenwood and lighting by Brian Nason are all properly evocative of the environment. Jones' irascible bullshit is ultimately entertaining - he is, after all, one of our great performers, and the totality is quite touching, and certainly a superior evening of theater.
