Denzel Washington, two-time Academy Award winner and Tony Award winner, returns to Broadway in one of the signal roles in the American theatre in Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, for 14 weeks only.
Frank Rich of The New York Times raved, "the word 'masterwork' is not invoked lightly. Eugene O'Neill's tragic vision remains undiminished by time. The Iceman Cometh is a ferocious American classic that has lost none of its power to send one shaking into the middle of the night." Beginning March 22, 2018, Denzel Washington, fresh off his extraordinary sell-out runs in both Fences and A Raisin in the Sun, comes back to the Main Stem in "the greatest American play" (New York Magazine) by "the greatest American playwright" (The Washington Post).
Five-time Tony winner George C. Wolfe directs this strictly limited engagement.
"Before Eugene O'Neill, America had entertainment; after him, it had drama." John Lahr, The New Yorker
"Eugene O'Neill did nothing less than re-invent - or rather invent - the American theater." - Sarah Churchwell, The Guardian
"The Iceman Cometh ranks among the theater's finest works. One final salute to a notable drama by a man who writes with the heart and wonder of a poet." - Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times
Yet the cumulative effect of this handsomely decrepit production is bracing. Director George C. Wolfe keeps things moving at a quick clip; not all of the bigger character choices pay off-and some of the actors are hard to hear or understand-but there are performances to savor. (I especially admired Michael Potts as a crapped-out gambler, Bill Irwin as a slick-handed ex-carny and Tammy Blanchard as a hard-nosed streetwalker.) In the end, however, it is Washington's show, and he seizes it with both hands in Hickey's climactic monologue, an aria of eroding self-deception boldly delivered straight to the audience. He takes us into his confidence, even as it crumbles.
Helmer George C. Wolfe has trimmed the play to a reasonable length (it now runs just under 4 hours) without losing the nuances in the various life histories of the boys in the barroom. But this is still a long play with a lot of moving parts. The first act, in which all the characters are introduced and roughly defined, is the most attenuated. Everyone lightens up - a bit too much, actually - in the second act, which shoots for comedy. But everything comes together in the third act, which spells Drama with a capital D. The third act is where Hickey divests himself of his own pipedream, ending the play with a gasp-inducing revelation. In a daring, but quite devastating piece of stage business, Washington turns his chair around and delivers Hickey's long monologue directly facing the audience. You want to talk theater? Take that, people!
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