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The Iceman Cometh is a play by Eugene O’Neill that was first published in 1946
. The play is set in Harry Hope’s saloon on the West Side of Manhattan in 1912, and explores the lives of a group of down-and-out alcoholics. The arrival of Hickey, a traveling salesman, disrupts their escapism, leading to a reckoning with truth. O'Neill's powerful drama probes the human condition, exposing the desperate pursuit of meaning in a world haunted by disillusionment and unfulfilled aspirations. The Iceman Cometh has been adapted for the screen twice, for television in 1960 and for film 1973.