About the work
The Iceman Cometh is a monumental drama by Eugene O'Neill, written in 1939 and premiered on Broadway in 1946. The play is set in 1912 in Harry Hope's run-down New York harbour saloon, a refuge for stranded lives who cling to their lies about themselves.
Plot
The regulars at Harry Hope's dive — washed-up lawyers, ex-policemen, anarchists, prostitutes — vegetate in alcohol and "pipe dreams", the comforting illusions of a better tomorrow that never comes. They all wait for the charismatic travelling salesman Theodore "Hickey" Hickman, who on his visits usually brings money and good cheer. But this time Hickey is changed: he is sober and has made it his mission to drive each of them out of their self-deception and to force them to "peace" through unsparing truth. As the men lose their illusions, they fall apart. Finally Hickey reveals his own terrible truth: he has murdered his wife — and his "liberation" turns out to be madness. In the end the stranded ones return, relieved, to their saving lies.
Cultural significance
The Iceman Cometh is regarded as one of the masterpieces of the Nobel laureate Eugene O'Neill and as one of the most monumental studies of the existential necessity of human illusions. The nearly four-hour drama poses the radical question of whether human beings can endure the naked truth at all. Legendary productions — with Jason Robards, Kevin Spacey and Denzel Washington, among others — have made the play a touchstone for great actors.