GIAF: Pumpgirl – Nun’s Island, Galway

Writer: Abbie Spallen
Director: Andrew Flynn
Reviewer: Ciara L. Murphy

“In this town, you’re either a slut or a snob, there’s no in between.”

Abbie Spallen’s gritty northern drama, Pumpgirl, draws a picture of the complex triangular relationship between its three characters: Pumpgirl, Hammy, and Sinead, as they endure their lives in a seemingly desolate rural town.

The setting is a petrol station on the border. It is grim, and this is accentuated by Owen McCarthaigh’s sparse, utilitarian set design. The small stage is a menacing combination of hard, grey concrete, and soft, spongy earth. A lone petrol pump dominates the stage, and the high concrete backdrop dominates the intimate space, making it claustrophobic.

The three characters address the audience in monologue style. This is a restrictive form which depends on the strength of the direction and the cast to provide an energy that is hard to come by with direct address. Unfortunately, Flynn’s direction limits the output of energy by the cast, and the overall effect is repetitive and rigid at times. Spallen’s writing is dynamic, however, and the pockets of dark humour and chilling levity save the piece from being overworked. It’s a wonder that Spallen’s work isn’t better represented on Irish stages.

Both Patrick Ryan (Hammy) and Seóna Tully (Sinead), deliver solid performances. However, it is Samantha Heaney as Pumpgirl that steals the show. Heaney delivers Spallen’s often deadpan script with extraordinary skill and range. She exudes a quiet energy that overcomes the restrictive direction, and she utterly embodies the sense of inescapable entrapment that is Pumpgirl’s life. Heaney’s Pumpgirl is devastatingly vulnerable and bitingly strong in the right measures.

There is a sense, in the intimate space of Nun’s Island theatre, that the ultimate tragedy of this piece is of the characters’ own making. However, this reviewer feels that Spallen’s script goes beyond the tired representations of personal tragedy and rural deprivation, and instead shines a light on the struggle of women to endure a society that is not made for them. That Pumpgirl is trapped in this cycle with no escape, well, that is the greatest tragedy of all.

Runs until 30 July 2017 | Image: Contributed