Pumpgirls would not be the first play to interweave monologues to tell the same story from different points of view (e.g., Brian Friel's Faith Healer), nor would it be the first play to illustrate the adage that "the wages of sin is death," so Abbie Spallen's new Irish drama, currently at Manhattan Theater Club's second stage, lacks both the thrill of surprise and the kick of heated conflict. Still, the language has flavor, the story -- about two extramarital affairs shaken by a horrific incident of violence -- holds interest for two full hours, and the trio of performers (Paul Sparks, Geraldine Hughes, and the captivating Hannah Cabell) find sympathetic cores to balance their characters' unsympathetic actions. You know where it's all going by intermission, but it's still worth riding to the finish.
