I don't think I would have liked this play 20 years ago, but I really enjoyed it. The skill and ideas are amazing. I don't think the story was the greatest, but enough to keep me interested in what what going to happen. I can see why this work is so revered. ( )

Re-read this recently, for probably the first time since the 80s. At first it's okay, set in a flophouse populated by the same types one encounters day-drinking at dive bars, though the slang is painfully of its time. Then the moralizing starts, and it gets to be real boring real quick. The twist ending is telegraphed far in advance, and doesn't really add anything to the story or the characters.

One of those plays that peaks at the title. ( )

I expected this to be a lot better. ( )

This is a hard play to recommend but it probably should be read by all for the depiction of an era and its exploration of difficult subject matter. I saw Eugene O'Neill's one act, two-man play, "Hughie," a couple of years ago and expected it to be bleak, which it was. But it was strangely riveting at the same time. That play like The Iceman explores delusions and, what O'Neill repeatedly calls pipe dreams. It also provides a picture of a time and place, which is the down and out side of early 20th century New York City. Reading a little bit about O'Neill was helpful to understand what drove him to write -- addiction, delusions and fear of facing life figure into so much of his work. In Iceman, the roles and lines of the characters are comical, pathetic and sympathetic all at once. It is a disturbing dose of reality that you can't put down. The characters have accents and say things like, "distoibed" and "soivice" and call each other louses and the like. While it's difficult to fully relate to the characters and take them seriously, you still hold out hope for them and want to see how it can possibly conclude.

Iceman is a long play but it is worth investing the time. Apparently, it is rarely performed as it runs 4.5 hours but it seems to read much faster than that. The Library of Congress listed it among its "Books That Shaped America." The play explores the international labor movement in the early 20th century, which is just one of the pipe dreams. The other delusions are the ones harbored by the individual characters who are living in the saloon -- afraid and now likely incapable of leaving it. The Iceman, a character named Hickey, is another of their delusions as they anxiously await his arrival, which usually brings with it a lot of laughs. This time it is different.

The saloon, called Harry Hope's, is based upon a real place called, "Jimmy-the-Priest's" that existed in the East Village and it figures in another O'Neill play. O'Neill really lived this life and so writes from experience. The portrayal seems over the top today but is likely not too far from cheap gin mill reality in 1912. In the end, I couldn't rate Iceman with five stars because I couldn't love it that much. But the blending of fantasy and reality and pathos in the bar have a way of staying with you and I'm still thinking about it. ( )

The only criticism I have of this play is the author's constant and bizarre use of 'de' instead of 'the' and 'dat' instead of 'that' in his character dialogue. The setting is Greenwich Village, not Jamaica, Eugene O'Neill. I've read and heard plenty of NYC accents, and they never sounded like this. I challenge you to read the following passage while resiting the urge to give the characters Jamaican voices in your head:

--MARGIE: (coming to Rocky's defense—sneeringly) Don't notice dat broad, Rocky. Yuh heard her say "tomorrow," didn't yuh? It's de same old crap.

--CORA: (glares at her) Is dat so?

Otherwise, thought-provoking story and captivating read. Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs fans would like this. Very proto-beat. ( )