"Mauritius"

"Mauritius," by Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright Theresa Rebeck and directed by Lynne Bolton, debuts Friday, February 11 at Westport Community Theatre.

Clever, taut, entertaining, intriguing, disturbing... "Mauritius" is a finely crafted evening of puzzling intrigues, simmering vendettas, duplicitous lies, lying deceits, unexpected twists, family complexities, information and disinformation – all revolving around half-sisters, philatelists, and con artists vying for possession of a rare stamp. Drama, comedy and thriller in one, "Mauritius" is a tightly woven tale, "caper-style." What you need to know is that the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Madagascar, is famous for two of the rarest stamps in the world – "Post Office’ Penny Orange and Twopence Blue" – and that money, love and family can ultimately be the catalyst to people behaving very badly. Who knew stamp collecting could be a deadly hobby... The play was a smash hit when it opened on Broadway in 2007, and Westport Community Theatre is very pleased to present the first full production in lower Fairfield county. An edge-of-your-seat thriller that is masterful in witty dialogue, suspense, comedy and a touch of pathos... and a lot of  "action."

After their mother's death, two estranged half-sisters discover a book of rare stamps that may include the "crown jewel" for collectors. One sister tries to collect on the windfall, while the other resists for sentimental reasons. In this gripping tale, a seemingly simple sale becomes dangerous when three seedy, high-stakes collectors enter the sisters' world, willing to do anything to claim the rare find as their own.

Powerful performances are delivered by the cast that includes Aimee Brown, Will Jeffries, Robyn Maitland, Bobby Pavia and Tom Petrone. Produced by Janet Adams and Robert Watts, "Mauritius" runs Fridays and Saturdays February 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 8:00 PM; Sundays February 13, 20 and 27 at 2:00 PM; and Thursday Feburary 17 at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $14 – $20 and can be reserved by contacting the Box Office at (203) 226-1983. Go to www.westportcommunitytheatre.com for additional information.

"Unsurprisingly for a writer with extensive experience in TV police procedurals like NYPD Blue and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, one of Rebeck's strengths is her skill at stitching tension into every exchange. The five characters in Mauritius pair up and face off in shifting configurations, the emotionally fraught edges of their twisty encounters made all the more intriguing by the fact that items as apparently innocuous as postage stamps fuel the friction." - Variety

"One wouldn't think that the subject of rare stamps would make for gripping, entertaining theater, but Theresa Rebeck's Mauritius, being given its Broadway premiere by the Manhattan Theatre Club, proves otherwise... The sort of well-made, engrossing and unpretentious play rarely encountered on Broadway these days, Mauritius is a welcome introduction to the fall season." - The Hollywood Reporter