Performing Arts

On Golden Pond at Diana Wortham Theatre

Cast of On Golden Pond. Photo by Terry Cyr

By Natasha Anderson

Montana Repertory Theatre’s moving production of On Golden Pond comes to Diana Wortham Theatre (DWT) on Sunday, March 18, at 7 p.m. The play, which alternates between humor and poignancy, explores aging, family ties and redemptive love in the simple tale of a family that pulls apart and then comes together again.

“This play has been continually produced for more than 40 years because its eternal themes of aging, facing the end of life and a discordant family finding each other are universal and timeless,” says Montana Rep’s artistic director Greg Johnson.

On Golden Pond was written in 1979 by Ernest Thompson and adapted for the screen by the writer in 1981. The film starred Henry and Jane Fonda and Katharine Hepburn and won three Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay. It was nominated for seven others.

“The play has endured because it deals with a family in crisis in a humane, poetic and often very funny way,” says Johnson. “It continues to resonate because we all have mothers and fathers, we all cope with aging and we have all experienced being lost—and hopefully found. It is this dynamic, this finding of family and the love therein, that keeps On Golden Pond forever relevant.”

Montana Repertory Theatre, based at the University of Montana in Missoula, has been touring since 1968. Over the past 15 years, the company has toured its productions of The Diary of Anne Frank; Death of a Salesman; A Streetcar Named Desire; Steel Magnolias; The Trip to Bountiful; Lost in Yonkers; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; To Kill a Mockingbird; Leading Ladies; Bus Stop; Doubt, a Parable; Biloxi Blues; The Miracle Worker; The Great Gatsby; and All My Sons. Montana Rep has presented more than 600 performances in nearly 500 communities across the US during that time.

“Diana Wortham Theatre has a strong commitment to bringing professional, touring artists to our community from across the spectrum of performing arts genres,” says DWT’s managing director Rae Geoffrey. “Montana Rep is nationally recognized for the quality of their productions and we’re thrilled to bring them to Asheville for their first appearance.”

Diana Wortham Theatre is located at 18 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville. Tickets are $40, $35 for students and $20 for children 12 and under. Student rush day-of-show tickets are $10. For more information, visit dwtheatre.com. Tickets can be purchased at dwtheatre.com or by calling 828.257.4530.

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