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Arts & Entertainment

'Mauritius' Provides Twists and Turns

Langhorne Players examines the double cross in philately, family and friendship.

As stated about postage stamps in Theresa Rebeck’s “Mauritius,” it is the errors that make them interesting. The same goes for her characters. “Mauritius,” a roller coaster ride about philately (yes, stamp collecting) and misanthropy produced by Langhorne Players, runs through May 7 at Spring Garden Mill in Tyler State Park.

Jackie, a sad-sack of a girl who seems to have done nothing but care for a dying mother in a dying family, is portrayed by Emily West with intensity just below the surface preparing to explode. She’s a shell of a girl, playing a shell game with a stamp collection found among her mother’s possessions.

She finds no help from stamp store owner Philip (Aaron Wexler), who dismisses Jackie like an annoying gnat.  It’s slacker Dennis (Brian Kelly) who discovers a valuable “inverted Jenny” among the collection. When this two-bit philatelist sees something beyond the “upside-down Jenny,” and beyond his imagination, he quickly sends Jackie on her way.

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Dennis brings the wealthy and sinister Sterling, portrayed by John Shanken-Kaye, into the picture, hatching a deal to acquire the pair of Mauritius “Post Office” stamps, an exceedingly rare find. Dennis assures Sterling that Jackie is an easy mark. “There’s damage there,” he says of her, indicating how desperate she is.

Her half-sister, Mary, played by Heather MacHenry, abandoned the family as a teen and never looked back, until after her mother’s death – and then only for the stamp collection. The women fight over who actually owns the valuable collection that contains two extremely rare stamps.

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Both women feel owed. One for the pain she escaped; one for the pain she endured. Instead of cooperating, they clash.

Jackie eventually finds her own strength, battle-scarred as she is. It would be wrong to reveal the twist in the end. Be certain there are several in this examination of morality and ethics.

Although there are a couple of laughs, it is the fights – emotional and physical – that resonate.

Wexler’s Philip has the smugness of a world-weary professional philatelists without a substantial find to highlight his career.

Kelly’s Dennis is smarmy and opportunistic, yet might prove to have a well hidden heart.

Shanken-Kaye’s Sterling wants the “Post Office” stamps so badly you can see it in his fingers, his quick-to-attack temper tempered only by his appreciation for skillful negotiation.

MacHenry’s Mary is sanctimonious, yet sorely damaged in her own right, despite escaping the family at a young age. In her mind, the stamp collection belongs to her because they were her grandfather’s, not Jackie’s. Fair assumption, but caring for her dying mother and half-sister might be, as well.

It is young West who carries the weight of the play and the world on her Jackie’s slight shoulders. Appearing first as a naïve owner of a questionable collection, she grows willing to destroy it all and walk away. Something she didn’t do to her family.

 

“Mauritius,” directed by Marie Maginity and produced by Tyler Winthrop, runs through May 7. Showtimes are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Wed., Thu. And Sun. tickets are $12, Fri. and Sat. are $14. Visit www.langhorneplayers.org.

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