Mauritius : A musical chairs of con artists is fast moving and absorbing.
Photo. Maria Vartanova
You don’t have to be an avid philatelist to be entertained by this drama about stamp collecting.
Essentially, Mauritius is a caper story with two legendary error-laden stamps as the treasure at the end of the rainbow. Conceived as musical chairs of con artists and propelled by the greed of all the participants, Mauritius is fast moving and absorbing. However, in focusing on the well-researched, main theme of a grab for rare stamps, playwright Theresa Rebeck chooses to allude to dark secrets and previous conflicts among the characters, without giving more than a hint of the back stories, a ploy that works only some of the time. Why, for instance, are the half-sisters who claim ownership of the family’s stamp collection so hostile to each other? What happened eight years earlier between the knowledgeable owner of the store and the psychopathic philatelist who craves the stamps? And did the third crooked philatelist have a connection with the younger sister before the con game began or did they simply come together because of the similarity of their goal?
Taking a leaf out of David Mamet’s book, Rebeck drops F-bombs faster than Justin Trudeau at a boxing match and makes each of the characters less likeable than the next.
Perhaps this is why the show lasted only six weeks on Broadway when it debuted in 2007.
Written in television style with several changes of location in Act I (Rebeck has written for such TV shows as NYPD Blue, Law and Order and Smash) the format poses a challenge for directors and set designers. In the Ottawa Little Theatre production, which opened April 29, director Chantale Plante and set designer Graham Price keep the action flowing by using the cast to move set pieces and unfold the well-designed set.
The cohesive ensemble is equally effective in delivering believable characterizations. The three philatelists — Lawrence Evenchick as the laconic, grouchy store owner, John Collins as the crazed and violent collector, and Chris Cottrell as the superficially pleasant deal broker — exemplify three types of dishonesty, while the two sisters — the smarmy Mary (Cindy Beaton) and the vicious innocent Jackie (Laura Hall) — cover the waterfront in their determination to cut each other out of their inheritance.
Mauritius continues at Ottawa Little Theatre to May 17, 2014
Mauritius
By Theresa Rebeck
Ottawa Little Theatre
Director: Chantale Plante
Set: Graham Price
Lighting: Paul Gardner
Sound: Bob Krukowski
Costumes: Renee Dupuis-Leon.
Cast:
Jackie……………………………………Laura Hall
Philip…………………………………….Lawrence Evenchick
Dennis……………………………………Chris Cottrell
Sterling………………………………..…John Collins
Mary…………………………………….Cindy Beaton