O'Neill, Eugene. The Iceman Cometh . New York: Vintage, 1946. Print.
The Iceman Cometh does not follow the typical plot-rising action set up that most plays do. The residents of Harry Hope's saloon are sitting waiting for their friend Hickey to come and bring up all their spirits, embracing their pipe dreams. However once he does come, he is not the same. He preaches a statement of salvation through giving up their dreams and alcohol. Eventually, the residents come to realize that something is off with Hickey and they try and figure out what exactly it is. I feel like the pace of O'Neill's pieces is not conducive to a high school classroom. They are so slow paced that it makes them a very long, tiring read. I feel as though most high schoolers would start to tune out halfway through reading it. As for staging it with high schoolers, I don't feel that would be possible either. First of all, it is a very heavy male cast, which always proves a problem when trying to cast a show. Also, I feel as though they would not understand "the point" of what O'Neill was trying to achieve and would just find the play boring to perform.
The Iceman Cometh does not follow the typical plot-rising action set up that most plays do. The residents of Harry Hope's saloon are sitting waiting for their friend Hickey to come and bring up all their spirits, embracing their pipe dreams. However once he does come, he is not the same. He preaches a statement of salvation through giving up their dreams and alcohol. Eventually, the residents come to realize that something is off with Hickey and they try and figure out what exactly it is. I feel like the pace of O'Neill's pieces is not conducive to a high school classroom. They are so slow paced that it makes them a very long, tiring read. I feel as though most high schoolers would start to tune out halfway through reading it. As for staging it with high schoolers, I don't feel that would be possible either. First of all, it is a very heavy male cast, which always proves a problem when trying to cast a show. Also, I feel as though they would not understand "the point" of what O'Neill was trying to achieve and would just find the play boring to perform.