On Golden Pond

Act One

On an early afternoon in the middle of May, in the late 1970s, Norman and Ethel Thayer arrive for a summer in their vacation home on Golden Pond, a body of water in the woods of Maine. Norman enters, knocks over the screen door to the front door, which is broken, and proceeds to pick up the phone and call the operator, asking for a call-back to see if the phone still rings. He argues with the operator, looks around the house, tries to identify people in photographs. Ethel knocks on the door, arms full of firewood. The couple proceed to reorganize and take the dust cloths off the furniture, open windows, and knock the dust out of corners, with Ethel taking a more active role in the cleaning operation. During this activity, they talk about the natural beauties of Golden Pond, the couple Ethel met gathering firewood, Charlie the mailman, Ethel’s “first love” (a wooden doll named Elmer), whether they are still middle aged or officially elderly, and how close Norman feels to