One more time, at least, for Lehr and Boehlke in 'Golden Pond'

While we wish Bain Boehlke and Wendy Lehr good health and long life, they both are at that age that invites the question: Could "On Golden Pond" be the last time we see the two of you on stage together? Do you ever think about that?

"All the time," said Lehr. "You can't ever assume anything."

"And that would be fine," said Boehlke. "It's not the be-all and end-all. We'd still see each other. Even if I'm living in Seattle or Arizona or Honolulu, we'd still play bridge. Our association — the success of our friendship is that we give each other total liberty. We respect each other's choices, we never say, 'Oh, you shouldn't do that.' We're open."

Perhaps it is the mortality that hangs over Ernest Thompson's play about a couple in twilight that has these stage legends recognizing that they can't go on forever. Those of us on the other side of the footlights, though, have more difficulty accepting this fact. They were on stage together when we were babes, teenagers, young adults and middle-agers. Their last show together was "The Gin Game" at the Jungle in 2008.

But yes, all things must pass, so we contemplate "On Golden Pond," which opens Friday at the Jungle Theater, with no guarantees.

Lehr said in an interview six years ago, "We won't be done until we play the two guys in the trash cans in [Beckett's] 'Endgame,' " but that was then. Now, they are playing Ethel and Norman Thayer, who struggle with frailty and family dynamics when daughter Chelsea (Jennifer Blagen) shows up with her boyfriend (Michael Booth).

Chelsea and Norman have a prickly relationship that needs resolution before there are no more opportunities to make things right. As usual Boehlke directs and has overseen the design and construction of the set — a big, woodsy cabin.

Boehlke: There were 20 or 25 years when we weren't on stage together. After the CTC, I went my way and Wendy went hers.

Lehr: Well, we worked together in Arizona.

Boehlke: Oh that's right.

Lehr: And "Under Milkwood" at Chanhassen.

Boehlke: I don't dwell on our chemistry, I just enjoy it. There is a trust factor in a weird and deep way. Something that is musically available. You know that is what theater and acting are. Making music together. You get into a rhythm. Acting on stage is like life. Our relationship is onstage. On a play, there is something very alive about our energies.

Boehlke: Our journeys, our personal journeys have been oddly different but much the same.

And on their work habits onstage?

Lehr: We go at it in individual ways. He is very precise in all his language. I'm the queen of improvisation, and I get into trouble for it.

Boehlke: Wendy Lehr is the only person who can rewrite a Chekhov play, in the most miraculous way.

Lehr: It's very subtle.

Boehlke: I like the play. It's one of the great American plays, since the 1950s. The version we're using is shorter than the one Frances Sternhagen originally did. We've made some sage edits.

Lehr: We take on a bit of the characters. I see him as the character.

Boehlke: Oh? This character has a bit of an acerbic quality to him.

Lehr: (Laughing.) We talk about this as a big, realistic assignment, but we're trying not to be boxed in. Someone asked me if I'm going to do that shaky thing like Kate Hepburn did (in the 1981 film). I said I can't, but see me in 10 years.

That would be something to look forward to — not the tremble, but the prospect of seeing Lehr on stage in 10 years. And it would be an even bigger event if she appears with the man she calls her stage husband.

Boehlke: I call it revealing the truth, in the kindest of ways. There is something about being onstage with someone interested in learning the contextual reality of the play. We can both sense it. It's not acting. The spirit comes alive in the joy of the life being created.

Lehr: There was a moment in "Gin Game." That's a big play to learn, and Bain has a line that says "I should knock." And it wasn't coming. I waited and I started just lightly knocking on the table to give him a cue. I asked him later, "Didn't you hear me knock?" and he said, "I just thought you were trying to drive me crazy."