"A desultory revival that occasionally sparks into life but that ultimately sinks under the weight of its own stasis. Not even the presence of a generally first-rate cast headed up by superstar Denzel Washington can do much to break things out of a repetitive loop...Director George C. Wolfe has helped each of the actors 'find' his or her character to the extent that we certainly can tell them apart. Yet none is developed beyond the bit of shtick that makes them recognizable."
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"Give Washington kudos for his extraordinary performance, his dedication, and the opportunity he presents to his marvelous castmates...What lifts this production, though, is the handling of the other 14 characters...Wolfe sees to it that all remain intensely present...'The Iceman Cometh' has always been a difficult evening of theater. Wolfe and Washington and a marvelous cast demonstrate that the play is indeed a monumental piece of theater."
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"More stylized than dramatically stirring in Wolfe’s arty staging, the latest Broadway production of this great and gloomy work is noteworthy for the mottled gallery of misfits and riff-raff created by actors in supporting roles rather than its leading performance by Denzel Washington...It is a challenging work to produce effectively. The rendition of the drama currently at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre does not achieve the requisite life and death significance of O’Neill’s somber vision."
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"I was not bored for a second...This version moves...There’s a sure foot on the accelerator...Done right, 'Iceman Cometh' is cumulatively invigorating, if not outright electrifying. Wolfe and his cherry-picked cast, happily, bring the electricity. This is one of the finest ensembles I’ve seen in a long time maybe ever...Washington rattles off O’Neill’s fulsome lines with a sassy panache and brio, while giving full scope to Hickey’s underlying self-hatred and disgust."
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"Shatteringly good Broadway revival...A great production of Eugene O’Neill’s monumental drama requires a towering performance in the crucial role of Hickey, and Washington memorably delivers one...Happily, the cast assembled by the veteran director George C. Wolfe is almost without a weak link...This is the first 'Iceman' I’ve seen in which the surface Hickey...truly seems to have moved beyond the trap of his life into another darker trap of madness."
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"With Washington at its center, this production qualifies as a star revival. But the star is supported by 18 unusually able actors; and the proceedings are directed by George C. Wolfe with compassionate attention to details of characterization. It's a high velocity 'Iceman'...Washington's Hickey doesn't fit snugly in the otherwise balanced ensemble...Washington's performance is nonetheless engrossing and believable on its own, separate terms."
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"Denzel Washington, the raison d'être of this production (coming way too soon after several recent stagings), gives a boisterous, almost pleasant performance as Theodore Hickman, aka Hickey, who is the 'Godot' of 'Iceman,' in whom the godforsaken characters put too much faith, a faith that, by the end of the play, is shown to be clearly misplaced. There is absolutely no foreboding in his interpretation. He takes the glad-handing aspect of Hickey too literally..."
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"Blessed with a sprawling cast of stage veterans, director George C. Wolfe constructs fantastic tableaus...Blessed with a sprawling cast of stage veterans, director George C. Wolfe constructs fantastic tableaus...But in presenting an African-American Hickey, O’Neill’s commentary about race gets scrambled...It’s an awkward problem that casts a shadow of confusion over this otherwise self-assured production."
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