Harry Hope

Harry Hope, the proprietor of a saloon and rooming house on the Lower West Side of New York City. He has been afflicted with agoraphobia since the death of his wife many years earlier. He hated her but cannot admit that he did, even to himself. With pretended reluctance, he gives his roomers free rent and free liquor. Like them, he is an alcoholic.

Ed Mosher

Ed Mosher, Hope’s brother-in-law, a former circus man and a roomer at Harry Hope’s.

Pat McGloin

Pat McGloin, a former police lieutenant and a roomer at Harry Hope’s.

Willie Oban

Willie Oban, a Harvard Law School alumnus and a roomer at Harry Hope’s.

Joe Mott

Joe Mott, formerly the proprietor of a gambling house with a black clientele.

Piet Wetjoen

Piet Wetjoen, known as The General, a former leader of a Boer commando and a roomer at Harry Hope’s.

Cecil Lewis

Cecil Lewis, known as The Captain, a former captain of British infantry and a roomer at Harry Hope’s.

James Cameron

James Cameron, also known as Jimmy Tomorrow, a former Boer War correspondent and a roomer at Harry Hope’s.

Hugo Kalmar

Hugo Kalmar, a former editor of anarchist periodicals. His name suggests Karl Marx.

Larry Slade

Larry Slade, a syndicalist-anarchist and a roomer at Harry Hope’s. He considers himself to be a withdrawn observer of the others who lacks their pipe dream of someday returning to the real world and a former life. The events of the play finally make him recognize his involvement with the others, especially with a newcomer, Don Parritt, who might conceivably be his son. As a result of Parritt’s continual pleading, Larry finally orders him to commit suicide. At the play’s end, Larry is the only one unable to return to his pipe dream and therefore will be alone in the saloon until he dies.

Rocky Pioggi

Rocky Pioggi, a night bartender.

Don Parritt

Don Parritt, a roomer at Harry Hope’s. He is a young wanderer seeking Larry and trying to escape from his mother’s rejection and from his responsibility for her imprisonment. Realizing the hopelessness of escape, he finally commits suicide by jumping off the fire escape.

Pearl

Pearl, a roomer at Harry Hope’s and a streetwalker.

Margie

Margie, a roomer at Harry Hope’s and a streetwalker.

Cora

Cora, a streetwalker.

Chuck Morello

Chuck Morello, a day bartender and a roomer at Harry Hope’s. He and Pearl have the pipe dream of marrying and buying a farm in New Jersey. Like the others, they come to realize that the dream is false.

Theodore “Hickey” Hickman

Theodore “Hickey” Hickman, a hardware salesman. He periodically goes to the saloon for drinks and is heartily welcomed because he treats all the others and is full of jokes and good cheer. When he shows up for Harry’s birthday party, however, his personality has changed, and he tries to force the others to see themselves as they really are, with impossible pipe dreams. He thus ruins the birthday party. The others finally learn that the personality change was caused by his killing his wife. He thinks of the murder as an act of mercy but finally realizes that it was an act of hatred; for this reason, he turns himself over to the police. He psychologically forces almost all of them (except Larry) to go into the real world and to try to fulfill their pipe dreams, in the belief that the realization that they will never fulfill them will make them more content with life as it is. To his dismay, they all return desolated. When Hickey, on realizing that...