Did you know that Mauritius is a minuscule island only easterly of Madagascar? Neither did I. That Mauritius was the sole, local home of the right away archaic Dodo bird, and that Mauritius was only the fifth nation ever to situation postage stamps, were moreover information that had, until now, eluded me. While there is nary a speak of of the eminent Dodo in Theresa Rebeck’s Mauritius - an repudiation that both saddens and baffles me - the island’s place in philatelic story forms the core of this infrequently inactive drama.
When many people regard of philately, or "stamp collecting," as those of us who have never won a spelling be often impute to it, their feelings are many expected ambivalent. The thought of forthcoming opposite a singular stamp in our grandmother’s attic, a stamp value hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, appeals to the inner-capitalist in all of us. Yet by and large, non-philatelists panel of judges stamp-collecting and its devotees to be less-than-thrilling at most appropriate and mind-numbingly tedious at worst. Stamp collectors at bubbly beverage parties are normally met with the same gentle grin and rapid disengagement as proselytizers of macramé or bullet reloading.
Mauritius, the play, engenders a really identical response. ! Though i t contains a handful of funny exchanges and a few flashes of desirous performance, it is, at its heart, a the theater about stamp collecting. Like philately itself, Mauritius offers the postal banking layman a brief, marginally interesting, but eventually forgettable, diversion for a couple of hours. No more. No less.
When Jackie (Leah J. Watson) enters Philip’s (Sam Sandoe) stamp pciking up emporium with a gathering she hereditary from her not long ago defunct mother, Philip, a rsther than caustic and pompous man, can’t be worried even to examine it. Dennis (Brian Landis Folkins), a struggling gatherer who, apparently, spends his days parked inside Philip’s investiture anticipating and praying for a few singular stamps to travel by the door, reviews Jackie’s gathering and spies what could be one of the brightest stars of the philately firmament.
Dennis doesn’t tip his palm to possibly Philip or Jackie, but instead takes his camber to Sterling ( Jim Hunt), a wealthy, semi-legitimate office worker and gatherer who starts salivating similar to Pavlov’s dog at bell time over the probability of obtaining the Holy Grail of postage stamps. The two group contingency beat a few contemptible story to partisan the consultant Philip for their outline to buy Jackie’s gathering at a fire-sale price. Meanwhile, Jackie faces her own barrier to financial sovereignty in the form of her half-sister Mary (Lindsey Pierce), who stubbornly claims solitary tenure of the stamps.
Is all of th! is somew hat diverting?
Certainly. Is it a nail-biting, goose-flesh-inducing rollercoaster of astonishing revelations and variable twice crosses? Not nearly. Though Jackie is the many middle character, Dennis is indeed the block of the play. Jackie and Mary’s wants, together with Sterling and Philip’s needs, all pass by Dennis as variously negotiator, partner, buddy and foil. Folkins deserves credit is to many nuanced and recognizably human opening in Mauritius. Veterans Sandoe and Hunt any have moments of genius, notwithstanding the one-note inlet of their characters, and Watson maintains an fittingly rhythmical and mad appearance throughout.
Even if the throw had completed the most appropriate work of their lives, Mauritius would still experience Rebeck’s uninspired plotting and Mamet-lite dialogue. As long as it fits the disposition and setting, we always conclude when a playwright embraces profanity. That said, having prime group use the word "fuck you" as an interrogatve, a admission and semantically nothing filler - often over the march of one swap - does not, in and of itself, approve gravitas or even effect on the proceedings.
Mauritius, Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s sixth period opener, is a fool around about stamp collecting. Really, what more needs to be said? (Yes, of course, probably any theme may be made to compel; this fool around only doesn’t succeed it.) Mauritius features 4 really upset people and one opportunist, all vigorously seeking after their own most appropriate interests. Profanity is hurled along with a few punches, but the finish outcome will, similar to philately, allure only to a choose few.
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On the Bill:
Mauritius plays by Oct. 29 at the Dairy Center is to Arts. Tickets are $19-$24. For tickets or information, call 303-444-7328 or revisit www.boulderensembletheatre.org.