And now for something completely different: Moonlight Stage Productions presents Ernest Thompson’s On Golden Pond through Nov. 27 at its Avo Playhouse in Vista, directed by Kathy Brombacher.

Norman and Ethel Thayer (Charlie Riendeau and Sandra Ellis-Troy) open up the mountain cabin near Golden Pond in Maine, where they have spent the past 48 summers. This year will be different: Daughter Chelsea (Michelle Burkhart) is coming with her boyfriend, Bill Ray (Terry Scheidt), and his son, Billy (Jacob Haren), to help Norman celebrate his 80th birthday.

Norman is a cantankerous (but good-hearted) old coot, fearful of death and worried by his progressive memory loss. He and Chelsea have been estranged for some years, and she is concerned that he may behave badly toward Bill.

The problem with this unabashedly sentimental family drama is that almost everybody has seen the stunning but quite different film version with Katharine Hepburn, Jane Fonda and her father, Henry, in his last film role. When going up against icons like that, what do you do?

Moonlight has hired the best set designer in town (Marty Burnett) and some of the best actors around: Sandra Ellis-Troy as Ethel and Charlie Riendeau as Norman, and (in her Moonlight debut) Michelle Burkhart as Chelsea. They also cast Burnett as Charlie, the mailman and Chelsea’s former boyfriend.

Always reliable, Ellis-Troy delivers a fine, no-nonsense Ethel, a woman determined to remain positive even as she watches the love of her life slipping away.

Likewise, Riendeau’s Norman is an endearing old codger, fearing senility but brought back to life by the presence of 13-year-old Billy, who gives him a reason to live again.

Burnett’s Charlie is charming and down-home, and boasts the most consistent Maine accent of the bunch. Wearing his other hat, he has contributed a terrific set.

On Golden Pond plays through Nov. 27 at the Avo Playhouse in Vista. Shows Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m.; matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For tickets, call (760) 724-2110.