Mauritius is the name of an island republic and former British Colony most famous as the origin of the Red Penny/Blue Penny Post Office Stamp and only home of the extinct Dodo Bird.
I did not know much about Mauritius before seeing the play with the same name at the New Theatre, which I photographed. The island is located 560 miles east of Madagascar in the South Indian Ocean. Mauritius was first visited by Portuguese sailors in 1507. It was named by Dutch sailors blow off course in honor of Prince Maurice of the Bahamas in 1547. The island was captured by the British during the Napoleonic Wars.
The colony gained its independence in 1968 and became part of the British Commonwealth in 1992. Mauritius Island is part of the Mascarene Islands. It is a tourist destination and financial center for East Africa, having one of the highest per-capita incomes in Africa.
