The True History of the Tragic Life and Triumphant Death of Julia Pastrana, the Ugliest Woman in the World

About

British playwright Shaun Prendergrast did in fact base this play on the true story of 19th-century sideshow performer Julia Pastrana, an indigenous Mexican woman who suffered from hypertrichosis (often referred to as werewolf syndrome, since the genetic condition causes an excess of body hair). Billed as a cross between an ape and a female, she’s hauled all over Europe by the circus ringleader, the same man who bought and eventually married her. The play is set entirely in the dark, so we get a sense of the beautiful and the beastly without actually seeing much at all.