BROADWAY SNAP-SHOT
by Russell Bouthiller

Dateline: October 8, 2007

MAURITIUS

Philately, the proper term for stamp collecting and trading, may seem the pastime of nerds to some, but for the characters in Theresa Rebeck's new play, MAURITIUS, Manhattan Theatre Club's first Broadway offering of the season, philately is a passion, a profession and a family legacy that brings out the sticky underside of the play's five characters.

With a vibrant cast including F. Murray Abraham, Dylan Baker, Bobby Cannavale, Katie Finneran and Alison Pill, Rebeck's MAURITIUS launches into a scintillating drama that uses as its "MacGuffin" a pair of highly valued and extremely rare stamps from Mauritius, a remote island located in the Indian Ocean and best known as the home of the long-extinct dodo bird.

For those who are not Alfred Hitchcock aficionados, a "MacGuffin" is a plot device that motivates characters to do either noble or nefarious deeds. In Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent." for example, the "MacGuffin" is the secret clause in a treaty that only a kidnapped diplomat knows and his captors aim to find out. Hitchcock realized that the details of the "MacGuffin" were relatively incidental. It's how those details motivate the players that really matters.

Playwright Rebeck neatly grasps this concept, a skill undoubtedly honed as a writer on TV's "NYPD Blue" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." MAURITIUS, however, resembles David Mamet's more than Hitchcock. In Mamet's AMERICAN BUFFALO, the plot follows the roll of a rare coin. In MAURITIUS, it is a pair of stamps dating back to the Nineteenth Century that propels the action.

MAURITIUS opens with Jackie (Alison Pill) bursting into the dusty old shop owned by Philip (Dylan Baker), a sarcastic and contemptuous dealer. With the recent death of her mother, Jackie has come into possession of a stamp collection that she wants appraised. The acidic Philip cannot be bothered for less than two thousand dollars, but Jackie doesn't have that kind of money.

Sitting at the back of the shop is Dennis (Bobby Cannavale), who rebukes Philip for his hard-nosed approach and offers to look at Jackie's stamps gratis. He withholds his true assessment until meeting up with wealthy businessman, Sterling (F. Murray Abraham). When he learns the girl may have two stamps fabled to be the "Crown Jewels of Philately," he aims to get them. Later, Dennis goes to Jackie's home to work the girl and meets her sister, Mary (Katie Finneran), who claims to be the rightful heir to the collection.

Tony-winner director of John Patrick Shanley's DOUBT, Doug Hughes gets the most out of his stellar players. Dylan Baker oozes as the oily philatelist. Tony-winner Katie Finneran whimpers as the sniveling sister. Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham sizzles as the sleazy collector while Alison Pill proves no one's fool. And, the charismatic Bobby Cannavale makes a memorable Broadway debut as the confidence man with a soft spot.

MAURITIUS offers the welcomed return of the suspense play on Broadway. With a vibrant cast and John Lee Beatty's gritty atmosphere, Hughes makes Theresa Rebeck's first Broadway endeavor a great ride. MAURITIUS, excitement and entertainment at the Biltmore Theatre.