Act 1, Scene 1, Summary

On Golden Pond is a two act play written by Ernest Thompson. The play is about an older couple, Norman and Ethel Thayer, who return to Golden Pond for their forty-eighth summer together. The couple is visited by their adult daughter, Chelsea, her boyfriend, Bill Ray, and his son, Billy. The summer takes a turn when Chelsea and Bill leave Billy to stay with the Thayers while they vacation in Europe. Young Billy brings Norman back to life, changing his focus from his imminent death to fishing and the slang of youth. This is a heartwarming play that will stay with the reader long after the final act is done.

The play opens in a summer home on Golden Pond in Maine in mid-May, an old house with a plaque that proclaims it was built in 1914. There is a heavy door...