In high school, I fell in love with Mourning Becomes Electra. Eugene O'Neill injected just enough pessimism into his works to resonate with this misfit, burgeoning writer. I don't recall reading The Iceman Cometh, but I can't imagine I'm the only high school senior who didn't get assigned this lengthy play about alcoholism, murder and the Boer War.
Along with the rest of Tampa Bay, I'll have the chance to see it starting this weekend at Tampa Rep. Along with one of my favorite playwrights, it features one of Tampa Bay's favorite actors, Ned Averill-Snell (who also, on occasion, writes for CL, but that isn't why we like him). The plot? Well, a reformed alcoholic tries to convince a group of barflies to go straight. Throw in a murder — somebody caught their wife shtooping the iceman — along with a prostitute or two, mix it up with everyone's sad story (hey, they ain't alcoholics because life's too good, you know?) and you have yourself some classic O'Neill.
This article appears in Jun 16-23, 2016.