THEY ARE ALL TRUE BELIEVERS

Click on the thumbnails above to learn more about each character.

IN AN UNBELIEVABLE TIME

The characters of FOOL THEM ONCE are born of a world which is at once both bizarrely unthinkable and eerily similar to one we presently find ourselves sliding towards, day by day.

It’s 1954. The United States finds itself in the grips of a pandemic of paranoia. It’s a sudden and dark turn from the age of optimism generated by the end of World War II. As the freshly crowned superpowers of America and the USSR now compete for global dominance, a new battle has emerged. It’s one in which the front lines are not all drawn on battlefields, but within the very borders of the United States; in government, in communities, and in homes. A trusting American public turns to Washington for answers, and is fed dire warnings about the ubiquitous and treacherous evils of communism emanating all the way from Russia, lurking around every corner, hiding in plain sight. Just a decade earlier, the American communist party thrived peacefully; now the public is sold this new ideology through firebrand speeches and advertising campaigns alike. For the first time, the American government actively encourages its citizens to spy on each other.

It’s a world in which the air drips with suspicion, opponents are demonized, televised hearings are national sport, truth is abandoned in favor of sensationalism, and innuendo is weaponized as a form of mass manipulation. The setting could not be more ripe for political opportunists looking to leverage public fear while they jockey for power by stoking xenophobia, antisemitism, and homophobia. As the country turns on itself and neighbors turn on each other, everyday Americans are forced from their jobs, brought up on charges, and even pushed to suicide. The Red Scare is in full swing.

All battles breed opposing armies. In the age of FOOL THEM ONCE, the lines of political opposition harden into the lines of survival as the public fractures. Each character in this story is wholly convinced of his or her own righteousness, standing in counterpoint to evil as they perceive it. This is what drives them toward the fight day after day, despite the odds or outcome. FOOL THEM ONCE is about what happens when those opposing true believers collide.