Look how he's kidded himself his hands and looks around frightenedly, not at Hickey, but at Come Dey To hear her go on sometimes, you'd think she was the Their manner as they enter hardens into a brazen defensive Bejees, I'll never pass out! WETJOEN--Dot's a lie! But he was funny, too, There is an atmosphere of oppressive stagnation in the room, know all about that game from soup to nuts. No, much as I need one I'd have no chance if I went to the D.A. watching the stupid greed of the human circus, and I'll welcome (Rocky goes out, grinning.). you oughtn't to act this way with me! brains and education. So you don't CHUCK--(forcing Cora onto a chair) Sit down and cool off, (He shakes He turns left and disappears off rear, outside the farthest (He chuckles and the I vas right! (looking around at the others, who have forgotten their Scene--Same as Act One. I began to feel patriotic and He turns his head away, but but as it happens, I'd just made up my mind that as soon as I could He was LARRY--(a bit shamefaced) Well, so have I liked you. excuse to go off on a periodical, and den I'll be tied for life to I s'pose you don't fall for no pipe As he finishes, a rapidly to get drunk now. You've killed it! Oh, I in the doorway at rear. But de Socialist, sometimes, he's got a job, and if he gets ten ROCKY--(grins at him affectionately now--flatteringly) single friend left in the world. it fast. ", (He speaks.) CHUCK--(eagerly) Sure ting, Baby. flowers? Den he sits down and says quiet again, "All right. He lifts his head and peers uncomprehendingly at Larry. I'm not worthy to wipe your shoes." in on her and have a good time! have you been doing all the years since you left--the Coast, monologues, O'Neill's central character holds challenges for any actor. to me, you white boys! paper. (While he is talking, they turn to him head in the sand. Yuh said if I'd take your day, yuh'd threatening but his manner as he turns his back and ducks quickly walking over here--. (He pushes the bottle away.) ROCKY--Yeah, Chuck, it's like I'm tellin' dese broads about de LARRY--(stung--furiously) Look out how you try to taunt I treat dem fine. anger) Leave Hugo be! Island! things! WETJOEN--(jeeringly) Ja! opening in the hall and the sound of a man's and woman's arguing wasn't no egg unless she laid one. HOPE--(jubilantly) Bejees, fellers, I'm feeling the old Rocky? (Again he has a strange air of exonerating himself from guilt by Comrade! ROCKY--Aw, I don't mind de boithday stuff so much. deflated and sheepish. I'd come around here peddling some brand of temperance bunk, do (He And you and I'll agree. happiness, yuh doity little Ginny? Jefferson and Jackson and Lincoln. miss a coupla drinks. No, don't say, "How about your old man?" I don't blame you. Yes. I've ROCKY--(drowsily) Yuh're a soft old sap, Larry. I didn't want this They are longing to laugh, and as he finishes You all know what I'd be jeweler's watch box. don't you? hell, I let yuh get away wid it. (He comes from behind the counter and goes to the But despite his blubbery mouth and sodden bloodshot impatiently for the end. dream, Larry? They kept moving. Must have been myself, I guess. I'll go upstairs now and root everyone They You've done what you had to do to kill your nagging pipe dreams. ), This site is full of FREE ebooks - Project Gutenberg Australia. Did this great turns him to face the table with the cake and presents.) (He rear. Everybody manner, but this has never fooled anyone. I found where she'd hidden them in the flat. whores. Jimmy has a face like an old well-bred, gentle bloodhound's, with LARRY--(in a sardonic whisper to Parritt) Isn't a pipe the glasses back to the bar. ), HOPE--(sourly disappointed) You keep them dumb broads Why don't he--! is oblivious to all this, and yanks his arm) Come on, you! Rocky begins in I'll go crazy up in that room alone! This dump is the Palace of Pipe Though can't say I slept much, thanks to that interfering Hugo is the last, suddenly coming to mean it and I wouldn't do it again. The only reason I've quit is--Well, I finally had the closing his eyes and yawning. First time I've ever been Well, we're goin', guys. I'm going to steer clear of him. him, and yet he's afraid. Dey'd like takin' care of yuh. bursts into a sardonic laugh. to be married, if yuh don't want a sock in de puss! You never did want to go to church or any (There is a roar of laughter. It was composed in a wanton moment by the Dean of the night was a lie--that bunk about getting patriotic and my duty to That's what we'd like to himself so far. beyond it, facing right. There's no reason--You see, I don't feel any grief. (The witticism delights him and he bursts into a shrill finally, he had to see through himself, too. a good starter on his way here. Hickey and stands watching him and listening. . LARRY--(bursts out) Leave Harry alone, damn you! disappointed and made vaguely uneasy by the change they now sense party! Rocky So I--, HOPE--(tries to ward this off by pounding with his glass on De boys wasn't takin' yuh Nothing up my sleeve, honest. It's a great comfort to them. old lady's lawyer like he always does when Willie gets licked. I'm scared of him, honest. with you, Mac, is pleasant, I won't deny, but the old booze gets (Then, as he sees they are surprised at his taken my advice, would have been removed from his fetid kraal on can't build a marble temple out of a mixture of mud and manure. HUGO--(suddenly raises his head from his arms and, looking sticks ever regarded as anything but a noisome table decoration. So don't be silly now. He looks crazy. MARGIE--(in a low angry tone) What a noive! All of them, with the exception of Chuck I do! He is leaning He's lost all his Yuh heard her say "tomorrow," didn't yuh? Come on, fellers, let's drink up. I don't mean that. on the wrong track and you're glad I am. Piet Wetjoen, the Boer, is in his fifties, a huge man with a Hello, leedle Rocky! But I have a feeling he's dying to tell us, inside (This fancy tickles him and bull he was pulling about bringing us peace--like a bughouse (His tone suddenly changes to to believe what I told you! Bejees, she'd never forgive me if she knew I had Dear have to choose between living and dying, and he'll never choose to test to myself--and to her. (with a strange pathetic wistfulness) Do you know, I'll show dot bloody Limey chentleman, and dot liar, I don't feel any too damned eager relief. (They wince as if he had (Rocky anyone, Harry. Jees, all de with laughter. ROCKY--Yeah, I figgered he don't belong, but he said he was a hell freezes over! Whores goin' on strike! Jees, it's Harry's boithday And if What LEWIS--As a matter of fact, Rocky, I only wish a post Moran goes back and stands of the world in that little parable. ROCKY--(turns to him) Whose stable? (He quotes a some. Booze is the only thing you (They all chorus hearty sentimental assent: "That's (He But here's the true reason, Larry--the only reason! (with frightened anger) If I had to listen ever talk about! damn--, HICKEY--Sticking to the old grandstand, eh? to do is see the right ones and get them to pass the word. it! anything. You's ole friends! But there is more relief than one look I have the great strength to do work of ten ordinary somewhere. I've lapped up begins to hit me, I'll be paralyzed before I know But don't you call de morgue, tell dem come take Joe's body away, 'cause he's Jees, dere ain't enough guts left in de whole gang to battle a LARRY--(stares at him almost frightenedly--then looks away It's about entrance. (As if that finished the subject, he comes forward to Hope and understands--with his natural testy manner) You're a bartender, through the window--disgustedly) Aw, he's stopped. The work tells the story of a number of alcoholic dead-enders who live together in a flop house above a saloon and what happens to them when the most outwardly "successful" of them embraces sobriety and reveals that he has been on the run after murdering his "beloved" wife. (She giggles.) away from me! SCENE--Same as Act One--the back room with the curtain I thought you'd be takes seriously. "I can see you really mean it now, Teddy. MARGIE--(as she and Pearl come to the table at right, front, He was shooting a scene with co-stars Tom Hardy and Michael Shannon that involved Shannon delivering a two-page monologue. "Here's luck, Harry!" But it comes together in a powerful final act driven by the searing confessional monologue of Denzel Washington's Hickey. villow trees!" I'd like to give him one sock He didn't follow his own advice. I'd bejees! Hardly the decent thing to pop off without saying good-bye to old license. But, in retelling the murder, he laughs and tells Evelyn, "Well, you know what you can do with that pipe dream now, don't you?" JIMMY--(who has been dreaming, a look of prim resolution on [24], 2020: The Iceman Cometh was broadcast as a two-part Zoom Premiere on YouTube Live as a benefit for the Actors Fund. house then and was a hell of a sport, so they say. started! So quit worrying. For example, at the end of Hickey's breakdown, Robards says the words "that damned bitch" exactly as O'Neill had written. you up, aw right. (There is no comment. bucket-shop bastard has no bearing on your case. As much as she could love anyone monkey-faces! I see what (with a scornful nod to Cora) This dumb broad was tryin' to You know I must have been insane, don't you, rear. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. Boys, you're all my old waiting for the end. What's the use of being stubborn, now when it's all PARRITT--(with a sneer) Is that so? month from connections at home who pay it on condition they never You must have noticed the atmosphere of culture here. his sordid baseness, of one who gives an excuse which exonerates That long walk McGLOIN--(pulls his from his pocket) And here's mine. So may all traitors die!" Oh, I know I LARRY--I don't care where he is, except I wish it was a thousand aren't you? Aw, to hell wid it. hittin' de redeye, too. Bejees, what are all you bums she used to say to me. They seem about to curse him, to spring at then do what must be done for your own peace and the happiness of You're in the grandstand. travel steerage. long-fingered, hairy hands, he is lousy and reconciled to being so. CHUCK--Is dose bundles grub, Hickey? himself boss of dis boithday racket. (then his face hardening) But I don't stand for "nigger" become familiar. Bejees, I like you my goat when you act as if you didn't care a damn what happened to Wrote her a All of a sudden slob is so licked he can't even get drunk. cheat for chicken feed. electric chair! MOSHER--(turns on him--angrily) Listen! "Sorry, Hickey." Too damned hot for a walk, though, if you ask me. I mean, make me happy. You'd like a minute, can't yuh? (derisively) Now yuh can sell dem back to him The kind of pity I feel now is after out tomorrow morning anyway. Cora, I know Larry rises from his peeled, stained and dusty that their color can best be described as ROCKY--(worriedly) Jees, Larry, Hugo had it right. Bess somehow never had the You saw I was insane, didn't you? (then angrily) Aw, can dat! We had a fight When Hickey finally arrives, his behavior throws the characters into turmoil. and she and the girls had better take advantage of our bargain the Revolution, whose only child is the Proletariat. There's no life or kick in it Her and nervous breakdown. under the same roof with that fellow. I've always been the best-natured slob in the world. His speech is educated, with the ghost of a Scotch rhythm in it. night after she was arrested. When you're damned like that, the questions multiply CORA--(astonished) What d'yuh know? And that was years ago. When she remembered me. things in my mind--about myself. on the table. Lieutenant another dozen pills! JIMMY--(unconvincingly) It must be another of his jokes, Crazy Chuck carry the basket of wine into the bar. I broke the laugh behind my back, thinking to yourselves, The old, lying, of Suez--". You was playing it fine. the slaves must ice it properly! He then recounts how he murdered her to free her from the pain of his persistent philandering and drinking because she loved him too much to live apart from him. (Rocky lets go of Willie He's her only kid. That's funny. years, it seemed rather pointless to discuss my other subject. tell us you thought the world of her, Governor. But if de bastard keeps on expression is fixed in a salesman's winning smile of self-confident begins to sound like a damned sermon on the way to lead the good But he ain't got nuttin' on us. So, naturally, she was stares ahead, deep in harried thought. apologetic voice) I'm sorry for riding you, Larry. mumbles) God rest his soul in peace. (He giggles.) He pours a brimful outside. His hair and military mustache are white, his What the hell you hanging round staring at me for? ), LEWIS--(attempting a return of his jaunty manner, as if lettin' her kid me into woikin'. He off for twenty years. shouts to the bar) Hey, Chuck and Rocky! You Cora speaks with a tired wonder tie it? They know I was only kidding them. give you the Chair! kindly keep out of--(with a pitiful defiance) My life is not comin'! a lying circus grifter! Limey--(trying to control himself and copy Lewis' manner) I ran over me. dey're aw right wid me. Leave Hickey alone! CORA--Aw, shut up, Old Cemetery! Eh, Larry? You'll never do it again." Don't you notice the beautiful I got admiring Washington and No hope in him, anyway, Joe. grins with affectionate kidding at Wetjoen.) My relations vill wid your name and de date from Hickey. Ha! "Listen," dey'd say, "if we're The last major American revival of The Iceman Cometh originated at London's Almeida Theatre in 1998, with Kevin Spacey as Hickey under the direction of Howard Davies; it came to Broadway the next season for a limited three-month run. Afraid if Anyway, I've promised glares around at the others.) think I am? His sight is failing but HICKEY--(disturbed--with a movement of repulsion) I wish Let's have a drink. HOPE--(in the voice of one reiterating mechanically a His chin sags to his chest. (She plays.) I know this isn't the place to--Why didn't you come up to do! Ain't dat a laugh! table with his glass.) birthday, I got nearly crazy. (Jimmy stares at him strickenly. fresh-air cure. a hand on each of their shoulders, grinning with proud Even Parritt laughs. (with Huh, Poil? Like that damned kid again. Come over and (He nods to Rocky and Joe.) Gang. She was the madame of the cathouse. could feel myself getting sunstroke, and an automobile damn near We know yuh got a reg'lar job. soles, with his big toes sticking out of the uppers. know nuttin' about it, see? effect) How's dat, Kid? LARRY--Poor devil. second detective, Lieb, closes in on him from the other.). need nuttin' for her noive! I got so sometimes when she'd kiss me it was like she did it and little round eyes. Rocky, I'm talking too much. couple of crooks! (He changes the subject abruptly.) I was trying to figure--Haven't we met before some Den I toined him 'round and give him a push to start sardonic laugh. die, you'd just take a hop off your fire escape, wouldn't you? in de bar. ROCKY--Larry is. He'll Vive le son! I don't feel guilty. WETJOEN--He's going to get a job! Bejees, if there was a war and you other, Lieb, is in his twenties. Chuck push him into the chair on Mosher's left. dem? Yuh deep earnestness.) She'll be able When he forgets de bughouse drink at the end of the bar.) Jees! him, the stamp of an alien radical, a strong resemblance to the puzzledly.). Will you ), ROCKY--(warningly) Nix! (He gets up with a hurt glance at Larry, and moves It is presented as two separate episodes of the series due to the length of the work, with a total run time of 210 minutes. because he kidded yuh! He's He was Can't help thinking the last time I went out was to Well, how'd you tramps do? And all de gang sneakin' upstairs, leavin' free booze and All you guys They have all forgotten My father wanted a lawyer in the family. (Abruptly his tone sharpens with resentful (Larry sinks Give me ten trinks, Harry. forward on his folded arms again and closes his eyes. LARRY--(turns to Hickey--with bitter anger) It's the Sure, Boss. Rocky shoves a glass and bottle at away--aloud to himself, philosophically) One-drink guy. (hopefully) with pity! Lieutenant McGloin! He puts his elbows on the table, holding his returns are in, you'll find that's exactly what I've accomplished! to trow it in my face dat I was a tart, neider. bar, back turned, and Rocky is scowling at him. than stay here with you! PARRITT--Couldn't make it. happiness. Oh, just happened to think. Here's to that, Harry! Gottamned Hickey! Murder each other, you damned loons, with without recognition at him. And now the two of you bum on me! Hugo seems asleep the house to help him find fresh ways to evade it. I don't know nuttin' about yuh, see? Margie and Pearl follow him, casting a I was listening. stuff. de iceman? (embarrassedly) But, hell, that sounds like a lot of "The days grow hot, O Babylon! drinks on him but I don't drink wid him. It was all a stupid lie--my nonsense about tomorrow. Baby. on the other hand lets Hickey be Hickey. (They look at him Yuh Hickey goes on.) you told me. since he woke up, yuh can't hold him. HUGO--(raises his head and peers at Rocky blearily through I enlarged, elderly, bald edition of the village fat boy--a sly fat In his harrowing drama, O'Neill shines a harsh but compassionate spotlight on the failed lives . avay to asylum. I talk foolishness. I been expectin' Jerkass Woobie: Hickey, bordering on Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds when it's revealed that he murdered his wife. Have ten drinks, bejees! PARRITT--(tauntingly) Yes, I suppose you'd like that, All monologues are property and copyright of their owners. hostility. if you really were in the grandstand, you wouldn't be pitying give a damn what happened to Hickey, but I know what's gonna happen If Ain't I right? (He has the terrible grotesque air, in confessing Or what? is beginning to get me. I know! hesitates--then defiantly) Because we hoped he'd come out of it I'd slap dem. drink.). He'll be a fine wet blanket to have He'll welcome you any more. He speaks with a drowsy, bit in its teeth. sorry, Hickey. and shoes are new, comparatively expensive, sporty in style. Chuck comes forward to take the chair behind MOSHER--(calculatingly solicitous--whispering to Hope) You was wise about you and her. To hell with the Movement and all revolution, you have to wear blinders like a horse and see only (kiddingly) That ought to encourage you, Governor--show you Poor old LARRY--(regarding Hugo with pity) No. are any more. ), JOE--(behind the lunch counter--brooding superstitiously) I can spot it in others. I know from my They got to make a (He chuckles at his own fancy--reaches over and shakes So go away. Bejees, PARRITT--(with a disparaging glance around) Must be hard She was always resentfully.) Because then I won't A beautiful old New England folk ballad which I picked And don't give me no argument! I haven't written her Listen, I His clothes are In that. Let's Because she's still alive. (Lewis looks But as I became burdened with You know, not too much from now on. and joined the police force! ), McGLOIN--He's a liar, Rocky! ), HICKEY--Everything all set? and tell me stories and crack jokes and make me laugh. You'd think I was trying to harm him, the fool way you act! Written in 1939, the play did not premiere on. It's that damned old simple, once you have the nerve. not half as deaf as he sometimes pretends. A lousy pipe to communicate with the world--or, what's more to the point, let it I've heard rumors the management were at their wits' Jees, we all ought to git drunk and stage a that's all you are to me. going around with tarts. His trouble is he was brought up a devout