...

And Others
by Dennis Bush
A One Act Drama
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 …AND OTHERS
By Dennis Bush
Copyright © 2014 by Dennis Bush, All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60003-782-5

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recording, all forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as CD-ROM, CD-I,
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translation into non-English languages.
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 …AND OTHERS

...AND OTHERS
A One Act Drama
By Dennis Bush

SYNOPSIS: A journey through the mind and memory of Amanda, a 26-

year-old woman, ...and others explores the dissociative identity disorder
(multiple personality syndrome) that resulted from a trauma she suffered at
thirteen. Seven personas – female and male – struggle for control. With a
mix of terrifying intensity, quirky humor, and heartbreaking revelations, this
thirty-minute one-act play will give actors challenging roles to play,
directors an opportunity for creative staging, and will have audiences on the
edge of their seats.
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CAST OF CHARACTERS

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(4 female, 4 male)
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AMANDA (f).................................. 26-year-old woman who suffered a

an traumatic experience, resulting in
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dissociative identity disorder (78 lines)

MAYA (f) ....................................... Opinionated; funny (51 lines)
RACHEL (f).................................... Vulnerable, behind a façade of
independence (51 lines)
KATARINA (f) ............................... 13; fearless in her innocence; a terrifying
layer lurks below the surface (49 lines)
BRADY (m) .................................... Self-perceived ladies’ man; thinks only
of himself (56 lines)
RANDALL (m) ............................... Rife with rage; controlling; brutal, with a
twisted sense of humor (52 lines)
KADE (m) ....................................... Boyish; afraid; worried; deeply troubled
(52 lines)
LIAM (m)........................................ Caring; heartbreaking in his desire to be
the protector (52 lines)

DURATION: 30 minutes

2
 BY DENNIS BUSH

SETTING: ...and others is set in the present, in the mind of Amanda (a

twenty-six-year-old woman who suffered a traumatic experience), and in the
minds of the seven dissociative identities that resulted from the trauma.

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

...and others can be presented with a very simple set. No special props or
costumes are required. Directors are encouraged to be creative with casting
and staging, and to avoid literal use of inferred props or to group actors
together so it appears that conversations are happening in places where a
character is speaking directly to the audience.

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...and others had a reading at Pearl Studios in New York City in September

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2013.
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The play had its premiere production in Phoenix, Arizona, in January 2014.
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The original cast included Marija Petovic, Monica Ramirez, Hailey Araza,
Elena Conti, A.J. Katek, Tristan Campbell, Anthony Quezada, and Logan
Umbanhowar. The production was directed by the playwright.

The original cast performed the New York City premiere production of the
play in April 2014, at the Crowne Theatre. Shane Crowley was the stage
manager.

The playwright offers special thanks to Melissa Teitel, Joe Pascale, Nick
Petrovich, Meggy Lykins, Isaac Gamus, Melissa Ganas, Pam Eckert, and
Karen Brown for their kind assistance and inspiration, during the creation of
...and others.

3
 …AND OTHERS

AT RISE: Lights up on AMANDA with seven actors, standing in a line

behind her.

AMANDA: When something momentous happens to you, you’re not

always aware how momentous it is – in the moment that it’s
happening to you. You know it’s important. You know it’s going to
have an impact. But you don’t think about it that way. It happens.
And, – if you live through it – you just go on living and the
experience becomes a part…
MAYA, RACHEL, and KATARINA: A part…
BRADY, RANDALL, KADE and LIAM: A part…
ALL: Of who you are.

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BRADY, RANDALL, KADE and LIAM: Of who you’ll be.
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AMANDA: It’s all you know.
ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: It’s all you need to know.

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BRADY, MAYA, RANDALL, RACHEL, LIAM, KATARINA, and KADE

move out of line. They stay upstage of AMANDA but are visible on
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either side of her and scattered around the playing space.
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BRADY, RANDALL, KADE and LIAM: Except when it’s not.

MAYA, RACHEL, and KATARINA: Exactly.
BRADY, RANDALL, KADE and LIAM: Yes...
MAYA, RACHEL, and KATARINA: And no.
AMANDA: But knowing and doing...
ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: Doing and knowing...
AMANDA: ...are two different things. And I didn’t know what to do...
I didn’t know what to do.

MAYA touches AMANDA as she says, “And.” AMANDA shifts away

from focus, as MAYA shifts into the focal point. Any type of physical
contact, when one of the others takes over, can work. When
AMANDA resumes control, there is no physical contact.

4
 BY DENNIS BUSH

MAYA: And I had a moment of clarity. While I was watching a show

on TLC, I had a moment of clarity: I just knew that I would be a
very bad conjoined twin. I guess, on some level, I always knew
that. But, when I saw the girls, all conjoined like they were, it
became absolutely crystal clear. One of them had her head tilted
at a 45-degree angle. Always. Tilted off to the side, while her
sister’s head was straight up like a regular person’s head. And I
knew that I’d be a very bad conjoined twin. Because I’d be the
one with the tilted head. And I wouldn’t be happy about it. I’d use
my left hand – the one that I’d have control of, because I’d be on
the left side – I just know I’d be on the left side. And I’d slap the
other twin. Repeatedly. And I’d do it hard. Like more of a punch

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than a slap – whatever it took to make it so she was the one with
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the tilted head and mine was the one that was straight up like a
regular head. (A profound truth.) Weakness gives way to strength.

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It’s how it is. How it’s always been. How it should be.
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AMANDA shifts into the focal point by moving in front of MAYA, who
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fades upstage. RACHEL and BRADY move downstage closer to
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AMANDA but not in her light.

AMANDA: Having other people tell you what to do doesn’t solve the
problem. It doesn’t make the decision any easier, especially if
what they’re telling you seems like the worst possible thing that
could happen... the worst possible thing you could do.

RACHEL touches AMANDA as she says, “And.” AMANDA shifts

away from focus, as RACHEL shifts into the focal point.

5
 …AND OTHERS

RACHEL: And you don’t get a vote. Even when you’re eighteen and
you’re supposed to have the right to vote, you don’t get to vote.
They say that they have to make the decisions for you. For your
own good. Because what’s at stake is serious, and you’re not
prepared – you’re not able – to make that kind of decision, so
they’re going to make it for you. And you wonder – I wonder –
what good it is to be eighteen and to have the right to vote, if you
don’t get to vote. If somebody takes away that right with a bunch
of reasons that keep changing. The reasons keep changing faster
than you can keep up with them. The old reasons get replaced by
the new reasons and, before you know it, those new reasons are
old reasons because there are newer new reasons.

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BRADY touches RACHEL as he says, “And.” RACHEL shifts away
from focus, as BRADY shifts into the focal point.

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BRADY: And there are reasons why there aren’t any rap songs
where the guy only has one girl. He has multiple girls. A lot of
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girls. Because that’s how he rolls. He rolls with a lot of girls. Not
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rolls like a ball rolls. Rolls like in how he lives his life. The way he
lives his life. He lives his life with a lot of girls. And you don’t hear
any of the girls complaining. You don’t see any of the girls in rap
videos walking off, saying, “I’m not down with this, yo.” Nuh-uh.
No. They accept what’s meant to be. Things that happen are
meant to be. So if there’s a guy with a lot of girls, then that’s how
it’s supposed to be. What is, is what’s meant to be. And you can’t
argue with how it’s supposed to be.

AMANDA shifts into the focal point by moving in front of BRADY, who
fades upstage. KADE and LIAM move downstage closer to AMANDA
but not in her light.

AMANDA: It wasn’t supposed to happen. I mean, I wasn’t supposed

to be there that day. My being there when it happened was an
accident. An accident.

KADE touches AMANDA as he says, “And.” AMANDA shifts away

from focus, as KADE shifts into the focal point.

6
 BY DENNIS BUSH

KADE: And the accident was my fault. It’s always my fault, when
bad things happen... I’m bad luck. I try to stay out of the way. I try
to stay hidden – so nobody notices I’m there, so I don’t jinx
whatever’s going on – so bad things don’t happen. But they do.
Bad things happen. (Begins to cry.) Bad things happen even
when I’m the closest to being invisible. I close my eyes and I try to
be invisible. I try. But, when I open my eyes, I see myself in her
mirror. Standing right behind her. And in her eyes. I see myself
in her eyes. And you’re not invisible if you can see yourself in
somebody’s eyes.

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AMANDA shifts into the focal point by moving in front of KADE, who
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fades upstage.

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AMANDA: I see my face... (Clarifying.) when I look in the mirror, I
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see my face. But somebody else’s eyes are looking back at me.
Somebody else’s eyes, from inside my head... Watching me from
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inside. And I don’t know what to do.
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RANDALL touches AMANDA as he says, “And.” AMANDA shifts

away from focus, as RANDALL shifts into the focal position.

RANDALL: (With barely controlled rage.) And when somebody tells

you to do something, you do it! (Losing control of his anger.) You
don’t ask questions. You don’t discuss it like your opinion matters.
(Undiluted fury.) You do it! (Pulling back his volume, but
increasing his intensity.) When I tell you to do something...do it! (A
beat.) Good. Now, we understand each other. We know who’s in
charge – who’s calling the shots. And we know who’s pathetic...
You’re an embarrassment. You’re like a marshmallow that gets
dropped into a campfire. Nobody wants it anymore. It’s useless.
It’s going to melt and burn and disappear. And nobody cares.

KATARINA touches RANDALL as she says, “And.” RANDALL shifts

away from focus, as KATARINA shifts into the focal position.

7
 …AND OTHERS

KATARINA: And the walls and the ceiling are all going to be painted
with zebra stripes, except they won’t be black and white like a
zebra. They’ll be periwinkle and white. (Explaining, joyfully.)
Periwinkle is a kind of blue and it’s also the name of a doll I had
when I was seven. (As if it’s magical information.) Before I even
knew that periwinkle was a color! I got the doll for my birthday and
it already had a name, but I changed it. (An indisputable fact.) If
you adopt a baby or get a doll for a present, you can rename it
whatever you want, if you don’t like the name it comes with.
That’s how it works. So I changed Betsy’s name to Periwinkle. I
also refused to feed her. She came with a bottle and you’re
supposed to fill it with water or milk and, then, after she drinks it,

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she goes to the bathroom. That would’ve been fine if her name
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was Betsy, but Periwinkle wasn’t the kind of baby who’d be happy
leaking all over the place. So no bottle for her. No liquids of any

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kind. (A quick beat.) She died about six months after I got her. It
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was a boating accident. She got thrown overboard into the lake.
Accidents happen when you’re not expecting an accident to
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happen. That’s how it works. There won’t be any accidents with
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the periwinkle and white zebra stripes on my walls and ceiling.

Everything is going to be perfect. And, after all the stripes are
painted, I’m going to put up my poster – my giant, almost-as-big-
as-a-whole-wall poster of a pale pink unicorn. The horn is made of
tape that looks like a 3-D rainbow when light hits it. It’s amazing.
It’s... breathtaking. When you walk in my room, you’re going to be
like...

ALL except AMANDA gasp dramatically, in unison.

and all you’ll be able to say is, “Wow,” and, then, maybe – after
you catch your breath – you’ll say, “My life sucks compared to
yours,” because as you stand in the doorway to my room you’ll
realize that you don’t have periwinkle-and-white zebra-striped
walls and a giant poster of a pale pink unicorn with a 3-D rainbow
horn. And I do!

LIAM touches KATARINA as he says, “And.” KATARINA shifts away

from focus, as LIAM shifts into the focal position.

8
 BY DENNIS BUSH

LIAM: And I will always protect you.

With his hand, RANDALL covers LIAM’S mouth as he says, “And.”

RANDALL stands behind LIAM but leans his head forward, continuing
to keep his hand over LIAM’S mouth.

RANDALL: And I will always take what I want. I will always do what
I want. (Begins to speak in Latin.) Ab intra, ab origine. Alea lacta
est. Ab intra, ab origine. Alea lacta est.
LIAM: (As if hypnotized; as RANDALL removes his hand.) From
within, from the source. Past the point of no return.

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LIAM and RANDALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

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LIAM and RANDALL: Actus me invito factus non est meus actus.
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(Take a breath, inhaling in unison. Louder.) Actus me invito

factus non est meus actus.
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MAYA, RACHEL, BRADY, KADE and KATARINA: (In a stage
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whisper.) “The act done by me against my will is not my act.”

AMANDA: I didn’t have a choice.

RANDALL touches AMANDA as he says, “Et.” AMANDA shifts away

from focus, as RANDALL shifts into the focal position.

RANDALL: Et... ex uno plures.

ALL except AMANDA take a breath, inhaling in unison. MAYA,

RACHEL, BRADY, LIAM, KADE, and KATARINA move downstage of
AMANDA, obscuring her from the audience’s view.

ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: (With growing intensity and volume.) Ex

uno plures... (Taking a breath, inhaling in unison. Loudly,
intensely.) Ex uno plures... (Taking a breath, inhaling in unison.)
From one...

9
 …AND OTHERS

RANDALL, MAYA, RACHEL, BRADY, LIAM, KADE, and KATRINA all

turn their heads quickly, in the rhythm of the phrase, to look at
AMANDA.

(Turning their heads back downstage.) Many.

KATARINA emerges from the group as she says, “And.” The others
fade from focus, as KATARINA claims the focal point.

KATARINA: And it makes me not want to leave my room. I mean,

seriously and for-very-totally-real, having a giant poster of a pale
pink unicorn with a 3-D rainbow horn is the kind of thing that

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makes a person not want to leave her room. If the people who are
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in charge of prisons were looking for a way to keep people in
solitary confinement without them getting upset about being

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solitarily confined, they should put giant posters of pale pink
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unicorns with 3-D rainbow horns on the walls of the rooms they
keep the prisoners in. Seriously and for-very-totally-real.
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BRADY: (Touches KATARINA as he says.) And you can’t argue
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with how it’s supposed to be.

RACHEL: (Touches BRADY as she says.) And what’s at stake is
serious.

RACHEL, BRADY, and KATARINA are all clustered together, in

physical contact with each other. MAYA moves into the cluster.

MAYA, RACHEL, BRADY, and KATARINA: And I had a moment of

clarity.

RACHEL, BRADY, and KATARINA fade upstage.

10
 BY DENNIS BUSH

MAYA: I would be a very bad lifeguard. I wouldn’t want to get up in

the lifeguard chair, in the first place, because it’s up too high. No
chair should be perched at the top of what is, essentially, a ladder.
But, if I did climb up the ladder and sit in the chair, I wouldn’t want
to get down just because some little girl was swimming in the deep
end and got scared and started hyperventilating and going under
water and breathing in the water and gagging and choking on the
water and screaming – when she wasn’t underwater. She
shouldn’t have been in the deep end in the first place. Where are
her parents? Why didn’t they teach her that little girls who can’t
swim very well have no place in the deep end. You shouldn’t
really be in the pool at all till you know how to swim well enough to

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save yourself, if something happens like when a big kid does a
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cannonball and lands on your head and you get knocked under
the water. If that happens – regardless of whether or not your

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head gets wedged in the big kid’s butt – you are on your own. You
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can’t count on the lifeguard to save you. At the most, the lifeguard
will blow a whistle at you and yell, “Stop horsing around in the
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pool,” but that’s it. That’s all the intervention you can count on.
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And you wouldn’t hear the whistle, anyway, because your head –
and your ears, because they’re attached to your head – would be
underwater. And, even if you did hear the whistle and the, “Stop
horsing around in the pool,” you’d probably wonder how a horse
got in the pool. Horses shouldn’t be allowed in pools. Not even the
little miniature ones. And while you were thinking about horses
and pools, it might occur to you that “horsing around” is an
expression that doesn’t really have anything to do with horses,
unless the first person to use it was yelling at actual horses that
were being all boisterous. (A tangent.) I wonder if “boisterous” is
boisterous because it’s how boys behave when a bunch of them
get together. (Getting back on track.) And, despite the horses and
boys, you’d still be on your own in the pool, so you better learn
how to swim. Which is good advice that I should have followed
myself. Because, then, I could swim. And I think lifeguards have
to know how to swim before they can get the lifeguard job. I’m
assuming there’s some kind of test involved. Like the boss of the
pool throws a kid in the deep end and the potential lifeguards have
to jump in and swim to the kid and save it. It being the kid.

11
 …AND OTHERS

Though, they probably use mannequins or dummies instead of

throwing real kids in the pool. Otherwise, the bottom of the pool
would be filled with kids that the wannabe-lifeguards didn’t get to
in time or didn’t know how to save. And that would be depressing.
For people in the pool and for the lifeguards who actually got the
job and had to look at the pool with the deep end full of bodies,
which would probably look even more disturbing from way up on
the ladder-perched lifeguard chair. So, no, I wouldn’t be a very
good lifeguard. I wouldn’t even be a mediocre lifeguard. I would
not be a good guardian of life in any situation. And I willingly admit
that.

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BRADY touches MAYA as he says, “And”. MAYA shifts away from
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focus, as BRADY shifts into the focal position.

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BRADY: And you don’t hear any of the girls complaining.
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Complaining is a sign of weakness.

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RACHEL touches BRADY as she says “And”. BRADY shifts away
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from focus, as RACHEL shifts into the focal position.

RACHEL: And it doesn’t help to make anything better. Complaining

is just words mixed with attitude. Actions make a difference.
Actions can change a situation from bad to good. Unless the
situation you’re in is so bad that even the best actions won’t make
a difference. And, then, you’re left feeling even worse than you
did before, because you know you can’t make a difference. You
start to think that nobody can make a difference. And you’re
scared. Because actions are supposed to speak louder than
words, but the words are being screamed at you, so loudly. And
somebody else’s eyes start looking out from inside your head.

LIAM touches RACHEL as he says, “And.” RACHEL shifts away from

focus, as LIAM shifts into the focal position.

12
 BY DENNIS BUSH

LIAM: And I’ll protect you. Always. I will always protect you. I can’t
think of anything that would be more important to me than
protecting you. Looking after you. Making sure you’re okay. And
safe. Always. I got a fortune in a fortune cookie at a Chinese
restaurant – which is pretty much the only place you can get a
fortune – and it said, “You are the guardian of everything good and
true.” I put it in my pocket. (Clarifying.) The fortune, not the cookie.
And I didn’t think about it, again, till I reached my hand in my
pocket about five hours later and found the fortune. To be honest,
when I said I got the fortune in a cookie at a Chinese restaurant, I
was just guessing that that’s what happened. I don’t remember
going to a Chinese restaurant, so I couldn’t remember getting a

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fortune in a cookie or putting the fortune in my pocket. But that’s
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where the fortune was – in my pocket, so I put the pieces of the
puzzle together. I have to do that a lot. Put pieces of the puzzle

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together to figure out how things happened and when they
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happened and if they really happened to me or if I’m just getting

the leftovers of somebody else’s life. So I have to make it feel like
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it’s mine. Like the pieces are mine. (A simple fact.) Finding a cash
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register receipt in my pocket can answer a lot of questions. It

triggers some new questions, too, but I prefer to focus on the
questions it’s answering, not the questions I didn’t know I should
be asking. Finding the fortune gave me a purpose more than it
provided information. “You are the guardian of everything good
and true.” That’s a major, serious, momentous piece of purpose. I
am the guardian of everything good and true. At the moment, I’m
choosing not to focus on the “everything” part of it. “Everything” is
pretty overwhelming. So, in my mind – while it is my mind – I am
the guardian of good and true. Just guardian... good... and true.

As AMANDA moves downstage, the others move to the sides and

behind her. They’ve been blocking the audience’s view of her but,
now, they give way to her moving into focus.

13
 …AND OTHERS

AMANDA: You take the good with the bad. It’s not like you get a
choice. You take what comes your way and you work with it. You
do your best with it. And I do. Between the blanks... The missing
pages – the sections that’ve been cut out or were never there. I try
to fill in the blanks... The holes in my memory. (A confession, of
sorts.) I disappear... It’s like being asleep when you’re not asleep.
And I wake up in the strangest places. I find myself in a parking lot
and don’t remember driving there. I look in the mirror and see
myself in clothes I never bought. And I see other people’s eyes
inside my head, looking back at me in the mirror. It wasn’t always
this way. I used to only see my own eyes looking back at me. And
I didn’t have any holes in my memory. (A transitional beat.) But

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always isn’t ever always. And forever can end in a heartbeat.
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ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: (Simulate a heartbeat, by chanting.) “buh-
BUM... buh-BUM... buh-BUM.” (Softly underneath AMANDA’S

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next set of lines.)
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AMANDA: Sometimes, my head feels heavy, like I have a cold and

I’ve taken a double dose of Nyquil. Like my head is filled with
an
soggy cotton balls. Or thick gray fog that’s hard to move through.
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And, then, what I see... starts to change. It’s like I’m inside the
house – my house – and then, in the blink of an eye, it’s like I’m in
a car, backing out of the driveway, but I can see myself looking out
of a window. I see myself looking at me.

KADE moves behind AMANDA, faces away from the audience.

AMANDA, as if drifting away.

I see myself looking at me.

The heartbeat chant stops. AMANDA and KADE take a breath,

inhaling in unison. The next two lines are spoken simultaneously.

AMANDA: And the house gets farther away… Like the driveway is a
mile long, and I’m at the end of it.
KADE: And the car gets farther away... Like the driveway is a mile
long, and she’s at the end of it.

14
 BY DENNIS BUSH

AMANDA and KADE take a breath, inhaling in unison. The next two
lines are spoken simultaneously.

AMANDA: And I can’t see myself in the window.

KADE: And I can’t see her... from the window.

AMANDA and KADE take a breath, inhaling in unison. The next two
lines are spoken simultaneously.

AMANDA: I disappear.
KADE: She disappears.

A beat.
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MAYA, RACHEL, BRADY, RANDALL, LIAM and KATARINA: Bye-

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bye.
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KADE touches AMANDA as he says, “And.” AMANDA turns away

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from downstage, but doesn’t fade upstage. KADE faces downstage,
Pe

as he continues.

KADE: And I wait till it’s quiet. Till I’m sure she’s gone and nobody
else is going to take over. And I kind of tiptoe forward to take my
turn. I don’t want to disturb anybody. Some of the others scare me.
I don’t think that’s bad. Fear is something I’m aware of. Everybody
should be. It’s like a fire alarm for your mind and body. It lets you
know when something is wrong... Or might be wrong... And it lets
you know that, so you can do something to stay safe – to protect
yourself. But, just when I’m feeling okay – like everything is going
to be quiet and safe and happy, somebody takes me somewhere.
(Clarifying.) Somebody outside, not somebody inside... And I go
along, because I don’t have a choice. Or, maybe, because I’m
afraid to say “no” or to disagree. You can’t be invisible when
people are mad at you. You can’t be invisible when you most need
to be invisible. That’s the downside of invisibility. (Pause.) And so I
go. Wherever they take me. But I pretend that I’m not there –
hoping that, if they look in my eyes, they see her and not me.
ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: And a lot of people are fooled by that.

15
 …AND OTHERS

KADE: It’s true... A lot of people don’t pay attention to whose eyes
they see looking back at them.

RANDALL touches KADE as he says, “And.” KADE and AMANDA

shift away from focus, as RANDALL shifts into the focal position.

RANDALL: And I count on that. I count on people not paying

attention. I count on their fear... their stupidity.... their weakness...
And I take advantage of it.
MAYA, RACHEL, KATRINA, BRADY, KADE and LIAM: Weakness
gives way to strength.
RANDALL: The others give way to me. They can’t help it. It’s the

rm for l
way it’s supposed to be... The way it has to be. Somebody has to
rfo ot sa
be in control. Somebody has to be strong and fearless. (Getting
more and more menacing.) Somebody has to walk out into the

ce
street – in front of oncoming traffic – and dare the drivers to touch
pe N ru

me. Dare them to hit me. Because if they do... If they dare, I’ll
take a baseball bat and smash their windshield. (Quick pause.)
an
And their headlights. (Quick pause.) And their heads. (Suddenly;
Pe

with disturbing sweetness.) Have you ever smashed a watermelon

with a hammer? It’s like that. Except with screaming. (Stating a
fact.) Screaming is weakness giving way to strength.

MAYA touches RANDALL as she says, “And.” RANDALL shifts away

from focus, as MAYA shifts into the focal position.

MAYA: And I had a moment of clarity.

KATARINA touches MAYA as she says, “And.” She shifts into the
focal point next to MAYA, who stays in focus.

KATARINA: And, sometimes, I wear an eye patch and tell people

that my eye got poked out by a unicorn horn.
MAYA: I would be a very bad E.R. doctor.

BRADY touches KATARINA as he says, “And.” He shifts into the

focal point next to KATARINA and MAYA, who both stay in focus.

16
 BY DENNIS BUSH

BRADY: And I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know that some of the
ladies call me Doctor Love.

RACHEL touches BRADY as she says, “And.” She shifts into the
focal point next to BRADY, KATARINA and MAYA, who all stay in
focus.

RACHEL: And you don’t get a vote.

MAYA: It’s life or death – in your face – the whole time you’re on
duty.
KATARINA: Unicorn horns are as dangerous as they are magical.
MAYA: Like a gunshot to the head.

rm for l
RACHEL: Nobody asks you your opinion before they shoot you in
rfo ot sa
the head.
BRADY: (As if making a hospital public address announcement.)

ce
Paging Dr. Love. Code Red. Stat.
pe N ru

KATARINA: (Like a stereotypical gangster.) My eye got poked out

by a unicorn horn.
an
MAYA: It’s life or death. Tick tock.
Pe

RACHEL: Pirates don’t ask permission before they plunder.

MAYA: I would be a very bad patient in the E.R. I’m impatient. You
can’t be a good patient if you’re impatient.
BRADY: You have to keep the ladies waiting. They’re on your
timetable. You’re not on theirs.
RACHEL: I keep waiting for other people to give me permission.
And, when they don’t, I get resentful.
KATARINA: (With a poking motion.) Poke poke. Poke poke.
RACHEL: I get annoyed – at myself and everybody else. Because I
let myself be manipulated.
BRADY: If you train ‘em right, they’ll give you what you want, without
you even having to ask for it.
MAYA: I guess, on some level, I always knew that.

17
 …AND OTHERS

RACHEL: I find little scraps of paper with messages on them. I find

them all over the house. I’m not the one writing them, but I’m
definitely the one finding them. It bothers me that they’re on scraps
of paper. Why not a whole page? Even half a piece of paper
would be better than a scrap. I save every message scrap I find.
So far, there are twenty-six... Twenty-six... Two... six... I keep them
in a safe place. And when my eyes are the ones looking back at
me in the mirror, I put all the scraps on the kitchen table and I try
to put them together – like a puzzle, but the pieces don’t fit
together... I’m hoping somebody will give me a message about the
puzzle. (She begins to cry.) But I need more than that. I need
more scraps... I need a message about the messages.

rm for l
rfo ot sa
AMANDA speaks quietly, simply, from a spot upstage. As she begins
to speak, the OTHERS shift to the sides and back of the playing

ce
space, leaving a clear path downstage for AMANDA.
pe N ru

AMANDA: My dad got the message. Loud and clear. My mom told
an
him he had to stay home with me. I had a fever and sore throat, so
Pe

she was making me stay home from school. She had an

important meeting with a client, and she couldn’t reschedule it. I
guess she could’ve, but she didn’t. So she told my dad that he
needed to step up and pull his weight. And my dad said, “Okay.”
He told my mom...
ALL: “I’ve got this. I’ve got everything under control.”
AMANDA: So my mom went to her meeting and my dad made me
breakfast.
ALL: Pancakes. With strawberry syrup.
AMANDA: And, after I was done eating, my dad said, “Get dressed.
I’m taking you to work with me.” I told him, “That’s not what mom
said you were supposed to do...” And he rolled his eyes...
KATARINA and AMANDA: ...like he was the thirteen-year-old girl,
instead of me.
AMANDA: So I got dressed. And I went to my dad’s office with him...
Thirteen years ago, today... (Drifting onto a tangent.)
RACHEL and AMANDA: Thirteen and thirteen is twenty-six.
ALL: (AMANDA in a daze. All OTHERS Simply.) Twenty-six... Two...
Six.

18
 BY DENNIS BUSH

AMANDA: When we got to his office, my dad said, “Lay on the

couch.”
ALL: (Explaining.) He had a couch in his office.
AMANDA: “It won’t be any different than if you were laying on the
couch at home, watching T.V., except you won’t be watching T.V.
So take a nap or read a book. Or think about feeling better.”
ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: (Like an echo.) Better... better... better.

ALL OTHERS mouth, “Better,” once more, silently.

AMANDA: So I did. I laid on the couch in his office, and I thought

about feeling better... He had his secretary make tea for me...

rm for l
MAYA, RACHEL and AMANDA: (Sweetly.) Chamomile.
rfo ot sa
AMANDA: It was good. And it was so quiet in my dad’s office.
(Pause) He’s a lawyer...

ce
BRADY, RANDALL and AMANDA: (Clarifying.) A divorce lawyer,
pe N ru

mostly.
AMANDA: His office had enough books to be a library. And it was
an
quiet like a library, too.
Pe

A beat. KADE touches AMANDA, as he says, “And.” KADE shifts into

the focal point next to AMANDA, who stays in focus.

KADE: And I wait till it’s quiet... I want it to stay quiet. I don’t want her
to go back there. I don’t want her to remember.

KADE, AMANDA, and RACHEL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

RACHEL touches KADE, as she says, “And.” RACHEL shifts into the
focal point next to KADE and AMANDA, who stay in focus.

RACHEL: And I willingly admit that.

KADE, AMANDA, RACHEL, and MAYA take a breath, inhaling in

unison. MAYA touches RACHEL as she says, “And.” MAYA shifts
into the focal point next to KADE, AMANDA, and RACHEL, who stay
in focus.

19
 …AND OTHERS

MAYA: And you’re scared. Because actions are supposed to speak

louder than words, but you know the words are going to be
screamed at you, because you’ve had the nightmares.

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: Her nightmares bleed into mine...

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison. As they inhale, ALL except

AMANDA turn toward the audience. AMANDA has continued to face
the audience, throughout the memory of going to work with her dad.
As if speaking directly to individual audience members.

rm for l
rfo ot sa
Into yours.

ce
ALL, including AMANDA, take a breath, inhaling in unison.
pe N ru

KATARINA touches MAYA as she says, “And.” KATARINA shifts into

the focal point next to AMANDA, KADE, RACHEL, and MAYA, who
an
stay in focus.
Pe

KADE, MAYA, RACHEL, and KATARINA: And I’m scared...

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

AMANDA: (As if not fully in her body.) I’m scared.

ALL, including AMANDA, take a breath, inhaling in unison. LIAM

touches AMANDA as he says, “And.” LIAM shifts into the focal point
next to AMANDA, KADE, RACHEL, MAYA, and KATARINA, who stay
in focus.

LIAM: And I’ll protect you. Always. I will always protect you...
LIAM, BRADY and RANDALL: (Take a breath, inhaling in unison.
LIAM sweetly. BRADY and RANDALL with an agenda.) ... look
after you... Make sure you’re okay...

20
 BY DENNIS BUSH

BRADY and RANDALL touch the OTHERS, as they say, “And.” They
shift into the focal point, as ALL OTHERS stay clustered tightly
together.

BRADY and RANDALL: And safe... Always.

ALL: (ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.) And somebody else’s
eyes start looking out from inside your head.

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison. The following eight lines are
spoken simultaneously.

BRADY: And you don’t hear any of the ladies complaining.

rm for l
MAYA: And I had a moment of chaos, not clarity.
rfo ot sa
RANDALL: And we know who’s pathetic; you’re an embarrassment.
KADE: And the accident was my fault. It’s always my fault.

ce
RACHEL: And you’re left feeling even worse than you did before.
pe N ru

KATARINA: And it made me not want to leave my room. Not ever.

LIAM: And it said, “You are the guardian of good and true.”
an
AMANDA: And I can’t see my face in the window anymore.
Pe

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison. The following eight lines are
spoken simultaneously.

BRADY: And it said, “You are the guardian of good and true.”
MAYA: And the accident was my fault. It’s always my fault.
RANDALL: And you’re left feeling even worse than you did before.
KADE: And I can’t see my face in the window anymore
RACHEL: And it made me not want to leave my room. Not ever.
KATARINA: And we know who’s pathetic; you’re an embarrassment.
LIAM: And you don’t hear any of the ladies complaining.
AMANDA: And I had a moment of chaos, not clarity.

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison. The dialogue returns to

individual delivery.

AMANDA: And I must have fallen asleep...

21
 …AND OTHERS

ALL, except AMANDA, drop out of focus, by dropping their heads to

their knees or dropping to the floor.

... Taken a nap... Drifted off...

The next two lines are spoken simultaneously.

ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: “Shhhhhh” (While remaining dropped out

of focus.)
AMANDA: When I woke up, there were three guys in my dad’s office
– three guys plus my dad. And I thought I was dreaming, because
why would there be three guys in my dad’s office while I was

rm for l
asleep on the couch.
rfo ot sa
ALL, EXCEPT AMANDA, stop making the Shhhhhh” sound.

ce
pe N ru

AMANDA: One of them was wearing camouflage pants. (A fact.)

Camouflage is very different from chamomile. (A quick beat.) And
an
then I noticed that my dad was tied to his chair and he had a big
Pe

piece of gray tape over his mouth. The fact that I noticed the guy
in camouflage pants before seeing that my dad was tied to his
chair kind of disproves the idea that camouflage helps you blend
in. But, maybe, that’s because we were in an office and not out in
a jungle. (Pause; getting back on track.) I reached for my tea. I
took a sip. It was cold. Like ice cold. And I said–
ALL: The tea is cold.
AMANDA: And the short guy – the one standing next to the guy in
camouflage pants – slapped me. Hard. And I screamed.

MAYA, RACHEL, and KATARINA scream. AMANDA begins to speak

before the end of the scream.

And the guy in camouflage pants said–

ALL GUYS and AMANDA: Shut up!
AMANDA: I ran toward the door, but the short guy grabbed me and
held my arms behind my back. I kicked him and yelled–
ALL GIRLS: Let me go!
AMANDA: And he said–

22
 BY DENNIS BUSH

ALL GUYS and AMANDA: You don’t get a vote!

AMANDA: I wanted to know why nobody was helping me. If
somebody screams, you should check and see what’s going on,
because people don’t usually scream for no reason. My dad’s
secretary made tea for me, but she wasn’t being much help now.
And I thought, “When my dad gets untied and gets the tape off his
mouth, he should have a serious conversation with his secretary
about her job performance.” (Pause; refocusing.) The guy in the
camouflage pants must’ve read my mind, because he said–
ALL GUYS and AMANDA: Everybody is gone for the day. It’s just
the five of us. Like five fingers on a hand.
AMANDA: And he held up his hands – and both his little fingers

rm for l
were missing! He just had a thumb and three fingers on each
rfo ot sa
hand.
ALL: (Hold up their thumbs.) One... (Holding up three fingers on

ce
each hand.) And three.
pe N ru

AMANDA: Two thumbs and six fingers.

ALL: Two... six...
an
ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: Eight.
Pe

AMANDA: And the third guy – the one who hadn’t said anything, yet
– started talking to my dad. Like the two of them were having a
nice, friendly conversation. He said–
ALL GUYS and AMANDA: “You shouldn’t have let it happen, Jerry.
You should’ve done something.”
AMANDA: My dad was his divorce lawyer. That much I was pretty
sure of. And he lost custody of his kids and had to pay his ex-wife
a lot of money. And he wasn’t happy about it. He was so not
happy that his face was as red as the tie he was wearing. And that
was bright red. He told the short guy to take the tape off my dad’s
mouth. It sounded like a big Band Aid getting yanked off. And my
dad said–
ALL GUYS and AMANDA: I wasn’t the only one. You had a legal
team. I wasn’t even the lead attorney on your case.
AMANDA: And the guy laughed – more of a giggle than a laugh –
and he said, “It’s kinda like the phrase on the back of the coins”–
ALL: E pluribus unum. From many... one.
ALL GUYS: We put all your names in a hat and yours is the one we
picked.

23
 …AND OTHERS

ALL GIRLS: E pluribus unum.

ALL GUYS: From many, one. And you’re the one.
AMANDA: And then the guy in the red tie smiled at me. His eyes
looked like the lights were out in his brain. They were so dark and
cold they made me shiver. (A quick beat.) He told my dad to stand
up. But my dad said---
KADE, BRADY, LIAM and AMANDA: Let’s talk about this. Like
rational people.
AMANDA: And the guy in the red tie got really close to my dad’s face
and shouted, “I told you to stand up”---
MAYA, RACHEL, KATARINA, KADE, LIAM and BRADY: (Begin to
simulate a heartbeat, by chanting, softly underneath the next

rm for l
section of dialogue.) “buh-BUM... buh-BUM... buh-BUM”.
rfo ot sa
RANDALL and AMANDA: (Shouting.) And when somebody tells
you to do something, you do it! You don’t ask questions. You

ce
don’t discuss it like your opinion matters. You do it! When I tell you
pe N ru

to do something… You do it! (A beat.) Good. Now, we understand

each other. We know who’s in charge – who’s calling the shots.
an
AMANDA: The eight-fingered guy in camouflage pants put a gun in
Pe

my right hand. And, for a second, it was more unnerving to be

touching the hand of a person missing his little finger than it was to
be holding a gun. (Takes a breath.) And he lifted my hand up,
extending my arm, so that the gun was pointing at my dad’s head.

MAYA, RACHEL, KATARINA, KADE, LIAM and BRADY stop the

simulated heartbeat. ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

And the guy in the red tie held a gun against my dad’s heart.

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

And he looked at me with his nobody-home eyes and said---

ALL GUYS and AMANDA: You’re going to shoot your dad. And, if
you don’t, I’m going to shoot him.

ALL take a breath, inhaling in union.

If you shoot him, we’ll let you go... we won’t hurt you.

24
 BY DENNIS BUSH

ALL take a breath, inhaling in union.

AMANDA: My dad had tears running down his face... And he said---
LIAM and AMANDA: Do what he says, sweetie... It’s the only way I
can protect you... To make sure you’re safe…

A beat.

RANDALL: (Unexpected; full of forceful rage.) And when somebody

tells you to do something, you do it!
ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: (Shouted.) You do it! (Clapping their

rm for l
outstretched hands – as if holding a gun – once, loudly, in unison,
rfo ot sa
to simulate the gunshot.)

ce
A beat.
pe N ru

AMANDA: (Softly.) You do it.

an
Pe

A beat.

And it was quiet...so quiet...

A beat.

And, even though I hadn’t moved – I was still in my dad’s office

and he was laying on the floor…

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

It was like I was back at home – inside my house – and then, in

the blink of an eye, it’s like I was in a car, backing out of the
driveway, but I could see myself looking out of a window.
KATARINA and AMANDA: My bedroom window. And I could see
the periwinkle-and-white-striped walls…
AMANDA: And I could see myself…
ALL GIRLS: …looking back at myself.

25
 …AND OTHERS

ALL: (Take a breath, inhaling in unison.) And the house gets farther
away... like the driveway is a mile long...

The following two lines should be delivered simultaneously.

AMANDA: …and I’m at the end of it...

ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: …and she’s at the end of it...

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison. The following two lines should
be delivered simultaneously.

AMANDA: ...and I can’t see myself in the window...

rm for l
ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: …and I can’t see her... from the window.
rfo ot sa
ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

ce
pe N ru

ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: Actus me invito factus non est meus actus.
an
A quick beat.
Pe

The act done by me against my will is not my act.

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

AMANDA: I didn’t have a choice.

ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: (Put their index fingers to their lips.)
“Shhhhhh” (Sound that fades in four counts.)
AMANDA: (With tears streaming down her face.) I didn’t have a
choice.
ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: (Softly.) Ex uno plures...

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison. With growing intensity.

Ex uno plures...

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison. ALL EXCEPT AMANDA,

loudly, intensely.

26
 BY DENNIS BUSH

Ex uno plures...

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison.

AMANDA: From one...

ALL take a breath, inhaling in unison, then, a beat, while slowly

exhaling.

ALL EXCEPT AMANDA: Many.

Lights fade to black.

rm for l
rfo ot sa
END OF PLAY

ce
pe N ru

an
Pe

27
 Pe
pe N ru

28
NOTES

rfo ot sa
…AND OTHERS

rm for l
an
ce
 DENNIS BUSH
Dennis Bush’s plays have been performed in New
York and throughout the United States and Canada,
and elsewhere around the world. He has extensive
credits as a writer, coach, and consultant. He has
written commissioned theatrical texts for numerous
clients and is a proud member of the Dramatists
Guild of America
...And Others
by Dennis Bush
Type: One Act Play
Genre: Drama
Duration: 30 minutes
Cast: 4 female, 4 male, 8 total cast

A journey through the mind and memory of Amanda, a 26-year-old woman, ...and
others explores the dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality syndrome)
that resulted from a trauma she suffered at thirteen. Seven personas – female and
male – struggle for control. With a mix of terrifying intensity, quirky humor, and
heartbreaking revelations, this thirty-minute one-act play will give actors chal-
lenging roles to play, directors an opportunity for creative staging, and will have
audiences on the edge of their seats.

ISBN: 978-1-60003-782-5