Eugene O'Neill: The Iceman Cometh

Eugene O'Neill: The Iceman Cometh. . , The lie of the pipe dream gives life to the whole misbegotten mad lot of us, drunk or sober! , Larry Slade, the Iceman Cometh, Prior to his career as a playwright, O'Neill lived for a time at a waterfront dive in New York City. He and his companions formed a community of lost souls ministered to by "Jimmy-the-Priest,” the owner of the flophouse., His experiences at a bar called the "Hell Hole” are re-created in The Iceman Cometh. The misfits who populate Harry Hope's saloon have only their pipe dreams and whiskey to enable them to face each new day. Upon the arrival of Hickey, an itinerant salesman who promises them salvation, they are challenged to confront the illusions to which they cling. As they risk life outside the bar, they become terrified. One by one, they return defeated., The pessimism of the play is tempered with music and the light-hearted banter of the saloon's inhabitants. O'Neill conveys a deep compassion for those who have only a "hope in hopelessness” to sustain them as they await the coming of the iceman - death. ,