You’re probably familiar with the movie, “On Golden Pond,” the first novie in which Jane Fonda starred with her father, Henry Fonda.

Henry Fonda portrayed Norman Thayer, Jr., opposite Katharine Hepburn as his wife, Ethel.

Henry Fonda received an actor Oscar, which Jane Fonda accepted on his behalf. He was too ill to attend the Academy Awards ceremony.

Norman Thayer, Jr. was the last acting role for Henry Fonda, who died at age 77 in 1982, the year after the release of “On Golden Pond.” Hepburn, two years younger than Henry Fonda, received the actress Oscar for “On Golden Pond.”

“On Golden Pond,” which takes place at a lake cabin in New England where the Thayers take their summer vacation, has a solid pedigree. The movie’s based on the 1979 play by Ernest Thompson. The 2005 Broadway production received a Tony for best revival.

The play, “On Golden Pond,” opens Feb. 12 and continues through Feb. 28 at Civic Theatre of Allentown. The cast is: Barry Glassman (Norman Thayer, Jr.), Becky Engborg (Ethel Thayer), Troy Brokenshire (Charlie Martin), Syd Stauffer (Chelsea Thayer Wayne), Luke Raso (Billy Ray) and James Pfeffer (Bill Ray).

The plot revolves around a visit by the Thayers’ daughter Chelsea, and her fiancé, Billy Ray, and his son, Billy Ray Jr.

“On Golden Pond” is a love letter from a time not so long ago. The Thayers have had many Februaries of Valentines.

William Sanders, Civic Theatre Artistic Director, who is directing “On Golden Pond,” is retaining the play’s 1979 setting, a world without the internet, cell phones, selfies.

It’s also a time when Alzheimer’s disease and pre-Alzheimer’s was little-known to the general public.

“It didn’t really have a name, at least to the mainstream. Do you remember [the term] ‘hardening of the arteries?’” Sanders asks.

“There’s no particular incident, but we see that he [Norman] gets lost on Old Town Road. And that’s particularly troubling to he and his wife.

“People are a little more saavy as to what Norman is going through in the play. I think that nowadays they would have him at a doctor. And that’s something that is very moving about the play: That we have that insight about the play that they didn’t have then.”

The multi-generation characters in “On Golden Pond” present an overview of aging. “When one grows older and one matures, regardless of what the time period is, regardless of how different the world is, you’re still not going to have the same life lessons at 20 as at 56,” Sanders observes.

Of aging, Sanders adds, “You never appreciate that you’re going to be in that boat. No matter how much you hear it or see it as a kid, you don’t believe it.”

At 13, Billy Ray Jr. is at the age when a boy is becoming a man. “It’s also when Norman probably became estranged from his daughter [Chelsea] because girls are going through something that men can’t relate to,” Sanders says.

“The dysfunction is at the forefront because they [the Thayers] haven’t after all these years been able to create a cohesive family unit. Because even before Norman’s started to change, even then, this was not a tight-knit family growing up.

“I think everyone can relate to having difficult relationships within their family. I think people want to go back and mend those fences.

“And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a difficult relationship with your family. It can be a friend relationship or a mentor relationship. But I think we all have those fractures in our relationships.”

Sanders says Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda are “such specific types that even in the movie they weren’t the Thayers. I love the movie. I saw it six, seven times when it came out. You’re loving her [Ethel], but she’s Hepburn.”

The casting of Barry Glassman as Norman Thayer, Jr. and Becky Engborg as Ethel Thayer was crucial. They memorably played a married couple in Civic’s spring 2014 production of the drama-comedy, “Other Desert Cities.”

“There’s great chemistry between them. I think that that’s something that needed to be there ... people who are comfortable with each other and can play off of each other,” Sanders says.

Does Civic’s production include the natural sounds of Golden Pond?

“The sound design is brilliant. Helena Confer has outdone herself. The audience is ‘in’ the pond. So, the loons and the mourning doves are all around,” says Sanders.

Alex Michaels is set designer. Will Morris is lighting designer and costume designer.

The set includes the framework of the lake house against a backdrop of pen and ink drawings.

“Chelsea is an artist,” notes Sanders. “I wanted it to have an other-worldly quality, like a memory play.

“I think that what people will take away from the play is the sentimental aspect of really appreciating your family. It sounds kind of mawkish, but I think that’s what he [the playwright] wrote.”

“On Golden Pond” is a classic American play. Says Sanders:

“That’s what makes a classic American play. Our insights change. And they [classic American plays] get better with age.”

“On Golden Pond,” 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27; 2 p.m. Feb. 28, 19th Street Theatre, 527 N. 19th St., Allentown. Tickets: Civic Theatre Box Office, 527 N. 19th St., Allentown; CivicTheatre.com, 610-432-8943