The School of Theatre Arts (SoTA) opened their season with a passionate punch.
Mauritius follows Jackie played by Valerie Martire ‘24, a young woman looking to make some money by selling valuable stamps from her mother’s collection after her passing. Encountering characters from the collector’s shop and ghosts from her past, Jackie tries to turn her luck over the course of the play.
The title of the play comes from two of the rarest types of stamps in the world. The Mauritius “Post Office” stamps are named after a British colony off the coast of Africa, made in 1847. There were 500 issued prints of the two colors, orange and blue, before later issues changed the label “Post Office” to “Post Paid.” As some of the rarest and oldest stamps in the world, they are worth a fortune.
Evan Carlson ‘24, played Sterling, a businessman intent on obtaining the rare stamps.
“Mauritius is this tightly woven play filled with mistrust and violence which meant that we needed to be in touch with each other as a cast. The fights and the sharp dialogue only worked because of our mutual respect for one another and everyone’s detailed work on the script,” Carlson said.
Molly Clemente ‘24, played Mary, the older sister of Jackie. “Everyone working on this production from the cast and crew put in 110% and it really showed through the glorious set, costumes, and performances my fellow actors gave,” Clemente said.
With the entire production being put together in three and a half weeks, the cast and crew worked quickly to open the theatrical season with a challenging play.
“Even though I may not have 6 million dollars in stamps myself,” Clemente said. “I can definitely say I have some priceless memories with some of my closest friends.”