Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – George C. Wolfe’s entertaining, high voltage revival of O’Neill’s THE ICEMAN COMETH, headlined by a magnetic Denzel Washington, closes out the Broadway season

• By drediman
• April 27, 2018
• No Comments

Denzel Washington leads Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh” at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.

The 2017-2018 Broadway season came to a close last night with the opening of George C. Wolfe’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, headlined by charismatic movie star Denzel Washington. There is no getting around the fact that The Iceman Cometh is a long slog – at four-plus hours, the play at various points feels like it’s spinning its wheels. But when performed well – as it is here – the play can be a stunner, capable of a series of walloping emotional sucker punches. Set in Harry Hope’s purgatorial saloon, the play paints a gloriously messy portrait of a motley group of down-and-out characters (most of them severe alcoholics). Essentially, The Iceman Cometh is a jazzy tone poem about the excruciating impossibility of human existence – you’re basically f***ed no matter how you approach life, O’Neill seems to be telling us, so you might as well drink it away (or worse).

This is the third time I’ve seen Mr. Washington take the Broadway stage. His commanding leading performances in August Wilson’s Fences and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (I had missed him in Julius Caesar) impressed me with his commitment and onstage zeal. With Hickey, Mr. Washington takes on one of the titanic roles in American theater – and he’s just magnificent. Mr. Washington’s Hickey is smoothly seductive and effortlessly magnetic, as he should be. His performance turns Iceman into high voltage entertainment, differing greatly in texture from Robert Falls’ existential, slow-burning – and equally superb – Goodman Theatre production starring Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy a few seasons back (the production was remounted at BAM).

With Mr. Washington’s performance at the revival’s nexus, Mr. Wolfe’s staging, which is filled with rousing moments of tough poetry, falls easily and naturally into place. The Iceman Cometh may well be one of the ultimate ensemble pieces, with the spotlight falling squarely on many of the saloon’s denizens. Playing counterpoint to Mr. Washington’s towering, passionate Hickey is David Morse, who is giving a gorgeously affecting, introspective performance as the clear-eyed, disengaged Larry Slade. Other memorable turns include Tammy Blanchard’s Cora, Bill Irwin’s Ed Mosher, and Colm Meaney’s Harry Hope. All are giving rich, lived-in performances that fit perfectly into Mr. Wolfe’s beautifully-orchestrated tapestry.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE ICEMAN COMETH
Broadway, Play
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
3 hours, 50 minutes (with two intermissions and a pause)
Through July 1