Living Curiosities Or What You Will

the long version

Living Curiosities dramatizes the little-known 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.