OUR FAKE HISTORY
by Nora Louise Syran
TRUE or FALSE?*
1) Vikings wore horns
2) Napoleon was short
3) Marie Antoinette said “let them eat cake”
History comes alive as students learn that fake news is old news and disinformation can be disastrous. With the school principal waiting for the slightest excuse to fire the students’ favorite teacher, Mr Parker, and Charlotte Locus manipulating the media to become Student Council President, will the students learn from the past or will they be doomed to repeat it? A trope-filled, historical myth-busting comedy, with a couple of songs thrown in.
*FALSE!
- Cast Size: 5M 11W 2M/W (Flexible ensemble casting)
- Running Time: 90+ minutes
- Royalty Rate: $75 per performancxe
Order Digital Download (Will NOT download to phones, cannot be printed)
About the Playwright
Nora is a first generation Norwegian-American writer and a teacher of literature, theatre arts and music which has allowed her to travel, write and produce plays and, above all, learn from her students the world over. She is a member of the SACD (Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques) and the Dramatists Guild. She studied under poet Brigit Pegeen Kelly at the University of Illinois. www.noralouisesyran.com
Her play ELLIS ISLAND AHEAD! is available with Eldridge Plays and Musicals and her monologue THERE ARE NO CLOSETS IN MY CLASSROOM can be found in the Smith and Kraus anthology WE-US: Monologues for Gender Minority Characters. Her play THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE will be published by Next Stage Press in March. Her first 10 minute play WALKING WARM was a semi-finalist in the TASN’s 2021 Annual Short Play Festival and her first teleplay SPELLBOUND HORSES earned her Second Prize from the Central Illinois Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters in 1993.
This is a great play with music for student performers. Educational AND fun! Many roles for student actors to shine and this play doesn’t talk down at all. This will always be a relevant play, in my opinion. The historical re-enactments are fun, but the framing story is very engaging as well!
Fantastic play for young audiences that will inspire the desire to learn. To question! To double-check! To be objective! The rhythm of the play will certainly draw students in and the language will also entertain the parents. And plot twists engage everyone. There are characters for everyone to identify with and recognize. The jokes are always appropriate and you can already hear the guffaws. The impact of the play regarding politricks, gossip, socialization, and responsibility could certainly be long-lasting as students may remember it while growing up and furthering their education. Which is the best outcome the play could have.
What a great play for young audiences! In addition to correcting some historical inaccuracies that have entered the collective conscious, it also reminds the audience to always think critically and consider the source – Just because something is written down doesn’t mean that it’s true. This would be a perfect play to mount at a high school, as there are lots of roles for teens and a great take away message.
Nora Louise Syran’s OUR FAKE HISTORY is a funny and touching story about fostering confidence in approaching and observing a critical lens, which is something that has caused quite a controversy in recent years. Syran’s script pushes back against the oppression of it with ease and humor.
Review Our Fake History.