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Drama Women Authors

Living Curiosities or What You Will

by (author) Mary Vingoe

Publisher
Playwrights Canada Press
Initial publish date
Nov 2010
Category
Women Authors, Canadian
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780887549083
    Publish Date
    Nov 2010
    List Price
    $16.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781770912243
    Publish Date
    Nov 2010
    List Price
    $12.99

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Out of print

This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.

Description

A look at the story of Anna Swan, a giantess from Nova Scotia who is sent to P.T. Barnum's famed American Museum in New York City.

Anna soon realizes that she is out of her element in the city, and longs to return home. Determined to make the best of her situation, Anna goes against the wishes of Barnum and befriends the other "living curiosities," developing a strong friendship with Alphonsia di Lugar. Together, they attempt to create a stronger sense of community by staging an unusual version of Twelfth Night with the rest of inhabitants of the museum. Old alliances and bitter feelings threaten to tear the company apart, yet they must all work together to escape the past and find their own identities.

About the author

Mary Vingoe is a director, artistic director, festival director, playwright, teacher, and actor. She is the founding artistic director of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival at Canada’s National Arts Centre in Ottawa, co-founder and past artistic director of Toronto’s Nightwood Theatre, co-founder and past co-artistic director of Ship’s Co. Theatre in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, and co-founder and past artistic director of the Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax. Vingoe has directed and taught at theatres and universities across the country, including Canada's National Arts Centre, Tarragon Theatre, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, the National Theatre School, and Neptune Theatre. Her 2013 play Refuge, published by Scirocco Drama, was a finalist for the Nova Scotia Masterworks Award and was shortlisted for the 2016 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama. Vingoe's new play Some Blow Flutes was nominated for Best New Play at the Robert Merritt Awards in 2019 and is published by Scirocco Drama. Vingoe is the recipient of Nova Scotia's Portia White Prize for artistic excellence. In 2011, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contribution to Canadian theatre.

Mary Vingoe's profile page