It’s about age, mortality, marriage, generation gaps and, ultimately, love.

“On Golden Pond,” a play by Ernest Thompson, made its New York debut in

1979 and has since become a chestnut for summer stock and community theaters throughout the country.

This quiet, touching and sometimes very funny idyll opened at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts Friday and plays through June 26.

As the story goes, Ethel and Norman Thayer have been spending summers in their Maine cottage ever since they were married 48 years ago. The cantankerous Norman is something of a hypochondriac, but now that he is turning 80, he is convinced he is dying.

The main event of this summer on Golden Pond is the arrival of their grown daughter Chelsea, who brings along the surprise of her fiancé and his teenage son. A relationship that develops between Norman and teen Billy Ray, after a lot of brouhaha, serves to reveal a lot about Norman and, subsequently, his inner struggle and the turbulence between him and his daughter.

As the summer ends, the Thayers pack up to leave their beloved cabin, realizing this may be their final farewell to their summer home, and to life as they’ve known it for half a century.

Director Tim Rarick happened to have met the playwright after the play had been running for some time in the early ’80s. Rarick said Thompson was flabbergasted that the play was treated as a comedy.

“He was quite disappointed and felt like it wasn’t the play that he wrote,” Rarick said.

Rarick remembered Thompson saying later: “I made the mistake of writing a very funny play.”

With the WICA cast, Rarick was determined to focus on the conflicts and changes that are going on in the characters’ lives.

“Each of these people is at a place in their lives where each of them is going to make a very significant change,” Rarick said.

“And at that threshold is the fear that accompanies it. Courage is necessary for each of them to get through it.”

Ed Cornachio is taking on the role of the crotchety Norman. Cornachio said the main thing about Norman is that he just wants to be rid of his fear.

“Norman is increasingly aware of his age and failing memory, and it scares the hell out of him,” Cornachio said.

“He’s bright enough to sense the indignity of an aging mind, knowing full well that at the age of 80 there is little, if anything, he can do about it. But damn it, he doesn’t like it one bit, so you better get the hell out of his way!”

Norman is irascible, flippant and sarcastic while his wife Ethel (played by Shelley Hartle) is friendly, warm and sentimental, an opposition that somehow makes the relationship work.

But, Norman is becoming completely dependent on his wife, who acts as his mouthpiece, explaining away his rudeness to people. Ethel stands as Norman’s protector against a potentially hostile world that misunderstands him.

Rarick said that it’s Norman’s sarcastic wit that is responsible for the play’s epidemic comedic treatment by directors. But, for him, the play is a domestic drama.

“I say, let the comedy rise to the top unprovoked when it has to, but our goal is more thought-provoking,” Rarick said.

Having first read the play in his 30s, Rarick said “On Golden Pond” is a lot richer play than he originally thought. Now, at 63, the play resonates for him well beyond a superficial sentimentality and dramatizes a man facing his own mortality — a situation everyone must eventually face in life.

“I’d like people to really reflect on something meaningful; that the play demand some consideration after it’s over,” Rarick said.

The cast also includes Jack Hood, Gail Liston, Brian Plebanek and Adam Schults. Leah Green is assistant director, Carrie Whitney designed the costumes and Rob Scott is the stage manager.

Tickets range from $12 to $16, with discounts available for seniors, military, youth and groups, and are available by clicking here or by calling 221-8268.