The Iceman Cometh
Tragedy about hope's destruction
The Iceman Cometh is a 1946 play by Eugene O'Neill, set in a New York saloon where down-and-out regulars cling to self-deceptions they call "pipe dreams." The title evokes both death (the iceman as grim reaper) and a bawdy joke about adultery.
The phrase sometimes alludes to the play's themes of delusion and despair: He kept making promises, but the iceman cometh—reality finally caught up with him.
- American dramaPlays from the States
- O'NeillAmerican theater dramatist
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
- saloonDrinking establishment, often frontier
- pipe dreamsFanciful, unattainable notions
Eugene O'Neill · false hope · illusions · despair · alcoholism · derelicts · skid row · barflies · delusion · tragedy · Broadway · drinking · death · confession · tomorrow · hopelessness · drunks · booze
The Iceman ComethOur Town
Play about everyday existence
Oklahoma! · Pollyanna · Annie · Harvey · Fiddler on the Roof
The Iceman ComethGuys and Dolls
Musical about gamblers courting
The Producers · Hairspray · A Midsummer Night's Dream · The Importance of Being Earnest · Legally Blonde
The Iceman ComethField of Dreams
Fantasy about building a ballpark
Rocky · The Secret Garden · Peter Pan · Billy Elliot · Rudy
ice, icy, icier, iciest, icily, iciness, iced, icing, iceman