(l. to r.): F. Murray Abraham, Bobby Cannavale, Alison Pill, Dylan Baker and Katie Finneran in Theresa Rebeck's Mauritius
By Theresa Rebeck
Biltmore Theatre
Woman walks into a stamp dealer's office. If your heart doesn't sink at that opening gambit, you might be able to stick it out for the two hours it takes to reach the unconvincing denouement of this first Broadway offering from overpraised playwright Theresa Rebeck (Omnium Gatherum; The Scene). The woman, it seems, is trying to peddle her late mother's stamp collection, which contains a priceless 19th century stamp from the Indian Ocean island of the title. Unfortunately, Rebeck seems to have written two plays, neither of them very well realized. First is the family drama that ensues when the woman's sister insists that the collection belongs to her, and uses it to air a lot of dirty laundry in their relationship. The other is a second-rate Mametian comic melodrama in which three con men stumble all over each other trying to bilk our heroine out of her stamps. Some good actors (F. Murray Abraham, Dylan Baker and newcomer Alison Pill) do their best with the slick but paper-thin material, but aren't able to give it the stamp of authenticity.