Pumpgirl

What the press had to say.....

"The actors lined up in chairs on the otherwise empty stage may smack of a struggling playwright�s cost-efficient choice. But this Manhattan Theater Club production, eloquently directed by Carolyn Cantor, turns that bare-bones setting into a strength, emphasizing the staggering force of good storytelling."
Caryn James
New York Times

"A story that is funny, graceful, rough and riveting."
Joe Dziemianowicz
New York Daily News

"The obviously talented Spallen comes up with passages of striking writing but too often everything simply turns into words, words, words tumbling by like blurred scenery glimpsed from a speeding car."
Michael Sommers
Star-Ledger

"Spallen is a sharp observer, but the stories, while nicely descriptive, don't carry us along emotionally or connect to one another in a way that quickens the pulse. The characters, except Sinead at times, are hard to get to know." Robert Feldberg
The Record

"Once the plotting takes a turn for the melodramatic, the rapport between the characters and the audience wavers...The ban on dialogue begins to seem stymieing. And Carolyn Cantor's direction � so nimble in the opening sections � starts to feel heavy-handed.... "Pumpgirl" announces the arrival of a writer of considerable gifts. Though their actions may not always be believable, the characters nonetheless are � largely because Ms. Spallen's meticulous ear picks up the unique habits of speech and thinking of each."
Joy Gooswin
New York Sun

"The language of Irish playwright Abbie Spallen is richly detailed and chock full of inventive imagery - her descriptions are lively, it's just the plot itself that seems tired." & "All the performers are fine storytellers and it is their considerable talents that transform "Pumpgirl" from mere melodrama into an emotionally truthful tale."
Julie Reed
Associated Press

"Spallen's language matches her elegant plotting. She writes in slangy Irish prose that makes room for beautiful images, so her characters sound like real people who just happen to understand metaphor. Ultimately, her script -- which shared this year's Susan Smith Blackburn Award -- provides the pleasure of a good short story."
Mark Blankenship
Variety