"On Golden Pond," through Aug 2, Bucks County Playhouse, 70 S. Main St., New Hope, is a play about growing:

Growing older, growing apart, growing together, growing aware, the growing ties that bind people to place and the growing spring that leads softly into summer.

It is 1979 and the start of another summer on Golden Pond in Maine. The Thayers, Norman (Keir Dullea) and his wife Ethel (Mia Dillon), are opening up their summer home for the season. It is their 48th season and a familiar routine.

Norman Thayer, Jr. is 79 and will celebrate his 80th birthday on Golden Pond. He is cantankerous, stubborn and as Dullea described his portrayal of the character, "a real curmudgeon."

He is all that. The younger generation might just call him "grumpy cat." He is a good man, but he has grown weary and muses about his own mortality.

Ethel is patient and optimistic, a nurturer and perhaps a bit of an enabler to Norman's foibles. She has her own eccentricities such as her borderline obsessive compulsion with ridding the interior of the house of insects; which as anyone who has ever spent time in a lakeside cabin will attest is a near impossibility.

She is also attached to an old childhood doll that seems to whisk her back to her youth each time she picks it up. Perhaps she does this to divert her mind from the fact that Norman is slowly losing his memory, and yes, one day they will both die.

Norman has been estranged from his only daughter, Chelsea Thayer Wayne (Christa Scott-Reed), for eight years. This summer, she is planning on paying a visit to Golden Pond along with her fiancé Bill Ray (Don Noble) and his 13-year-old son Billy Ray, Jr (Cameron Clifford).

Eagerly anticipating her visit is childhood friend and long-ago boyfriend, Charlie Martin (Todd Cerveris), the local mail carrier who has an easy-going, child-like and simple manner. He is quick to laugh in his distinctive way and never takes things to heart. He lives his life in the moment as opposed to Norman, who holds grudges and ponders his ever-shortening future.

The characters of Norman and Ethel are endearing. No matter how stubborn or curmudgeonly Norman can be, he is likable and forgiven for his ways as we are often wont to do with our own aging relatives.

The chemistry between Norman and Ethel is genuine and no accident. Dullea and Dillon are real-life husband and wife, having been married 16 years.

Dullea has appeared in numerous motion pictures but is best-known for his role as astronaut David Bowman in the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film "2001: A Space Odyssey." He reprised the role in the Peter Hyams Sequel "2010: The Year We Make Contact."

His other notable roles include Stephen Lake in the 1965 film "Bunny Lake is Missing," and Peter Smythe in the 1974 Canadian cult feature, "Black Christmas."

In addition to film roles, Dullea has appeared numerous times on stage, including Broadway, off-Broadway and regional theater.

Dillon has several Broadway credits to her name, including a 1982 Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in "Crimes Of The Heart." She has also appeared in all three "Law & Order" TV franchises.

The "On Golden Pond" book by Ernest Thompson was penned in 1979 and, while some of the references Norman uses to describe his lesbian neighbors, Jews and others are out of favor by contemporary mores, taken in context with the time in which the play is set and the character, it's no more offensive than some 1970s sitcoms.

The scenic design by Steven C. Kemp recreates the interior of a summer house replete with exposed wood beams, stone fireplace and years of framed family pictures along the walls. If you look closely, you will see many are of the actual cast members throughout the years.

The lighting design by Gina Scherr sets the time of day and casts a realistic reflection upon pine trees visible through the doors and windows.

Music and sound design is courtesy of Obadiah Eaves and costume design is by Jennifer Paar.

The turning point in the play comes when Ethel agrees to allow Billy to stay with her and Norman for the month of August while Chelsea and Bill explore Europe.

Norman decides to teach Billy Ray about fishing and literature, and Billy in turn rekindles in Norman a joy and wonder about life. He eagerly looks to spend time with the boy as his crusty veneer begins to soften.

Scott-Reed as Chelsea conveys through the delivery of her lines and body language the tension of an estranged middle-aged daughter hoping for reconciliation and closure before it is too late.

Cameron Clifford as Billy is a delight, and the audience will become as attached to him as Norman does.

Don Noble's Bill is a man on the sideline looking on as the Thayer family dynamics play out. He doesn't quite know his place. Meanwhile, Norman keeps putting him in his place. He is the essence of an outsider while his son has found his place in the mix.

Director Jonathan Silverstein allows this play to unfold at its own pace. His direction is nuanced. This is not a play with a lot of "action" or fast takes. The characters' dialogue and interaction drive the story forward and allow it to unfold.

The audience is given a glimpse into not a dysfunctional family, but rather a complicated family not unlike most American households.

"On Golden Pond," with its brilliant casting and stagecraft, once again proves why Bucks County Playhouse is the gold standard in regional theater.