The Iceman Cometh is set on a summer day of 1912 in Harry Hope's saloon. The patrons of the saloon are all drunkards and prostitutes. In the first act of the play we are introduced to the characters, who bicker among each other and ramble about their past, dreams and plans for the future. Among the various characters we have Willie Oban, a former Harvard Alumnus whose father has lost his fortune, Pat McGloin, a former police lieutenant kicked out from the force on criminal charges, Joe Mott, an African American who used to own a casino, Hugo Kalmar, a former anarchist, Captain Cecil Lewis, a former British Infantry Captain, Larry Slade, a former anarchist, James Cameron, who fought in the Boer war, Pearl and Maggie, two prostitutes. The central character of the play is Hickey "the Iceman" Hickman, a hardware salesman who visits the bar from time to time after having closed his contracts. He becomes the life of the party, buying drinks for everybody and entertaining the crowd with his stories.

Hickey Hickman arrives but this time is different. He has changed. He persuades everybody that he has had a moment of clarity and is now sober. He tells everybody that they are after delusions and empty dreams. He urges them to acknowledge the emptiness of their lives. He also informs them that his wife is now dead and that she has been murdered. Everybody is somehow affected by Hickman's ramblings and when two policemen arrive at the bar, "The Iceman" makes a dramatic and startling revelation. He killed his wife because he loved her and felt guilty about having cheated on her. Seeing her asleep in her bed, he shot her...