Mauritius -- Theresa Rebeck's Pulitzer-Finalist Play on Stage February 3 at Riverside
- Vero Minute
- Jan 26
- 2 min read
As A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder enters its final week at Riverside Theatre (closing February 1st), there's still time to grab your seat here before you find yourself wishing you had! 32963 Theatre Critic Terry Girard's killer review is here.
And then… the mood shifts.
The Bobbie Olsen Series on the Waxlax Stage presents:
Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck, the most Broadway-produced female playwright of our time. You may have also seen her television work on NYPD Blue and L.A. Law.
When half-sisters Jackie and Mary discover their late grandfather's dusty old stamp collection contains two legendary 1847 stamps (only 26 exist today, and one sold just last year for nearly $12 million) they're already financially devastated from poor financial decisions and their mother's illness. Jackie wants to sell immediately. Mary wants to honor their grandfather's legacy. What begins as a family dispute spirals out of control once an arrogant shop owner, a slick con man, and an obsessive philatelist arms dealer get involved.
Fun fact: Philately, more simply put -- stamp collecting -- has historically attracted a certain type of obsessive. King George V, the "Collector King," purchased a Mauritius Two-Pence Blue in 1904 for £1,450—a world record at the time. When a courtier later remarked that "some damned fool" had paid such a sum for a single stamp, George calmly replied, "I am that damned fool." Franklin D. Roosevelt relaxed between running the New Deal and overseeing the war effort by poring over his stamps in the White House. Even John Lennon collected stamps, filling albums between recording sessions as a form of meditative cataloging.
Every character, at some point in the show, is challenged to take the high road, but do they?
Fair warning: very strong language and intense situations
Mauritius runs February 3-22 at Riverside Theatre. Tickets $75. Click here to meet the cast and learn more.
