The Iceman Cometh tells the story of the denizens of a bar and boarding house on the west side of downtown Manhattan in 1912. The No-Chance Saloon is owned by Harry Hope, who hasn’t left the place since his wife Bessie died 20 years ago. He promises himself that one day he will take a walk outside in the neighborhood again.
All of the men who sit in the bar day and night, in fact, possess “pipe dreams” that they never intend to fulfill. There is Mosher, who plans to go back to working in the circus; McGloin, who was fired from the police force but plans to go back; Jimmy who is always saying that he will go get his job back tomorrow; Joe, a black man who once ran a gambling house and wants to start up a new one; Rocky, the night bartender who claims that he isn’t really a pimp to Margie and Pearl, the two women who work for him; Chuck, the day bartender who, along with Cora, another prostitute, plans to get married and move to a farm; Hugo, a radical member of the Movement (the International Workers of the World) who swears to himself that he hates the bourgeoisie; Willie, a Harvard law student kicked out for drunkenness who thinks one day he will return; and Captain Lewis and General Wetjoen, English and Dutch military men, respectively, who reminisce about the Boer War and dream of returning home. Finally, there is Larry Slade, a crotchety but likeable old man who claims he has no pipe dreams of his own, especially after he left the Movement.
The characters are waiting for the traveling salesman Hickey to show up. Every year he stops in for a visit, buys everyone drinks, and tells them uproarious tales. Hickey is due any time since that evening is Hope’s 60th birthday party.
While they all wait, snoozing and drinking and bickering amongst themselves, a young stranger who claims to know Larry rents a room and joins the idle men. Parritt is a handsome but sneering figure who says he is the son of a woman Larry knew from their days in the Movement. Parritt makes Larry uncomfortable, especially since he vacillates between criticizing his Mother and extolling her merits. Parritt is in New York on the run from the police, who thanks to an anonymous tip, rounded up the Movement radicals - including his Mother - and put them into jail.
When Hickey finally arrives, his demeanor is not as raucous as expected. While he is still his customary jovial self, he announces he’s given up alcohol because he had an epiphany and put away his silly pipe dream. He now lives in peace and self-awareness and hopes to help everyone else do the same. When he points out all their stalled dreams, it makes the group uncomfortable.
In Act Two, preparations for Hope's birthday party are underway. Everyone is sniping at one another and deflating their pipe dreams. Larry remains aloof but watches and laughs at the turmoil Hickey has caused. He tries to keep Parritt at arm’s length, especially as it seems the young man wants to confide in him.
The party begins but Hope is bitter and upset given Hickey’s special attention to his dream of walking outside. Hickey assures him his birthday is a good day to try this out but Hope is exceedingly reluctant. Larry tries to get Hickey to reveal what happened to him to make him give up his pipe dream. He references a joke Hickey used to tell about catching his wife in bed with the iceman, but is quickly shut down when Hickey announces serenely that his wife is dead.
Act Three begins with the bartenders cleaning up the remnants of the party and the rest of the men grudgingly preparing to leave the saloon to rid themselves of their pipe dreams forever. Joe prepares to go out and see if he can open his gambling den; McGloin, Mosher, and Jimmy seek their old jobs back; Willie plans to go to the D.A. to start practicing law; the Captain and the General try to get a job so they can make money to pay their fares back home; Chuck and Cora head out to get married; Rocky decides not to be a bartender anymore and be a real pimp to Margie and Cora; Hugo mumbles about making the proletariat his slaves; and the pitiable Hope steps out to take his walk.
Rocky narrates what Hope does, which is stand awkwardly on the curb, walk into the middle of the street, and then rush back inside in fear. While Hope is outside, Rocky wonders if he will come back and Hickey says of course; they all will. Back inside, Hope is shaken and proceeds to get drunk.
Larry accosts Hickey about the truth behind his conversion, as he and Rocky surmise perhaps Hickey drove his wife to suicide. Hickey instead admits that she was murdered, but that he does not feel sad about it because she is better off without him.
In Act Four, everyone who had stepped outside to move beyond their dream is downtrodden, suspicious, and depressed. Hickey is particularly upset that Hope isn’t content now, but wonders why all of them persist in their suffering.
Two police officers, Moran and Lieb, enter the bar and stand off to the side. Hickey continues to harangue everyone but launches into a long speech about what really happened to his wife. He narrates how he was always a troublemaker but Evelyn loved him anyway. She loved him through every transgression, every absence, every mistake. Eventually Hickey began to feel intense guilt and resented her for this. He decided something had to be done but knew he couldn’t commit suicide or end the marriage because either result would shatter her. Thus, he shot her and killed her. This, he says energetically, brought her peace because loving him was too torturous.
At the end of this narration he says that he cursed her after he shot her but that he could only have done this if he was crazy. He turns to Hope and implores him to agree that yes, he is crazy. At first the grumpy and morose Hope grumbles, but then his eyes light up with the realization that if Hickey is insane, then all his pushing for the eradication of everyone’s pipe dreams came from a mentally disturbed place. Hope enthusiastically tells the waiting policemen and the rest of the room that Hickey is indeed crazy. Everyone else begins to chime in with cries of agreement.
Moran is disgusted and tells them to stop protecting Hickey; he is going to get the Chair. Hickey smiles that he doesn’t care. Moran and Lieb take Hickey away.
As Hickey is relating his story, Parritt tells Larry the truth about turning his own Mother in because he hated her. He seems to want Larry to condemn him so he can have peace, and Larry finally urges him to end his life and this torture. Parritt is relieved and throws himself off the stairwell of the building.
The group celebrates and drinks now that they are reconciled to their pipe dreams and life of indolence and inebriation. Larry, though, filled with pity and bitterness, sits and stares off into space.
