We’re all a little freaky inside, aren’t we? Go to see the Francis Wilson Playhouse production of Side Show to experience the world through the eyes of Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton. These courageous young women make a change from being a circus sideshow act to becoming famous vaudeville performers in the 1930s. The show begins with the twins in a second rate sideshow with an abusive ringmaster who likes to show the girls off only partially clothed.

But even though the conditions are deplorable, the “freaks” in the sideshow are like family and feel very protective of the girls, especially Jake who is sweet on Violet. When fast-talking Buddy Foster and Terry Connor want to take the girls on the vaudeville circuit to make them famous, their sideshow family objects. This leads to the song, “The Devil You Know,” expertly sung by Jake. Later when the two men start to feel personally drawn to the twins, they sing, “More Than We Bargained For.” This is a foreshadowing of things to come (mainly, their emotional involvement with the girls).

The book by Bill Russell is based in fact and

This article appears in Jan 13-19, 2010.