Screenplay Draft 1

Screenplay: ‘Of Unsound Minds’

Characters:
Main protagonist (Rob)

Doctor

Personality one (Drug Abuser- Army veteran) (Daniel)

Personality Two (Young girl) (Lily)

Words in red overlap between characters.

Set in a small dark hospital psychiatric room.There are 4 chairs set in a circle with the main protagonist facing the doctor in the room- lit lightly by the spotlight. The other personalities are sitting either side of the main protagonist.
Doctor is wearing a smart shirt, jumper and smart trousers and is sitting upright in his chair with his legs crossed. The protagonist is sitting with bad posture and scrunching himself up in his chair, is also wearing a suit in order to show the role he has in society.

The 1st personality- Daniel is wearing a military outfit and is sitting with both feet on the floor with his back straight and hands on his knees. Lily is wearing typical young female clothes and has a band in her hair- she is sitting with her legs crossed at the bottom and twirling her hair.

Dip to Black and cut slowly to the establishing shot of the room.

Sound fades in slowly- starts off quiet and becomes gradually louder.

(joins the treatment in media-res)

Doctor:

What do you mean?

Rob:

I’ve been struggling, I’m worried. I've been talking with Daniel a lot too- he’s been telling me that nothing will be the same again.

Daniel:

It won’t- it was never the same for me. The world don’t accept me anymore, it never accepted me!

Doctor:

Daniel, you have nothing to worry about. We are all here to help you, we are here to make you feel welcome. I believe that the issues are with the other people, not you- they have the problem.

Lily:

Daniel, has been speaking bad about the world. He says that everyone is out to get us. He say no one want us here. He scare me, he make the world scare me.

Rob:
Scare me.He says that we aren’t normal, that people are scared of us. Daniel thinks that we don’t fit in. I don't think we fit in, anymore. Did we ever really fit in? Was we ever really normal? I was always different, but no one ever wanted to accept me. The neglect I felt hurt, do you know how that feels?

Doctor:

Lily, Rob, you are not neglected I am always here for you to talk to, Daniel faces a problem different to the rest of you- he’s still suffering. It will take him more time to recover than you two.

(Daniel sits rocking his chair in fear)

Daniel: There’s nothing wrong with me- it’s the world around me, that’s the problem. It just doesn’t accept me no more. It doesn’t accept anything that challenges the status quo.

(Daniel jumps out of his seat and crouches into a ball on the floor- he has heard a loud bang like a gunshot)  

RETREAT! RETREAT! UNDER FIRE, REPEAT WE ARE UNDER FIRE!

Doctor:

Daniel, listen to me, listen. It’s okay you don’t need to worry you are not back there- you are here with me and we are here to help you. Talk to me Daniel. What are you seeing?

Lily:
Daniel stand up, stop being silly Dan.

Rob:
Dan. Daniel you are scaring me- get up Daniel. What are you hiding from?

Daniel:
The shooting, they are shooting. It’s her (points at the doctor) she is trying to destroy us.

Rob:

Us. Why would she do that? She wouldn’t do that would she?

Lily:

No! She wouldn’t. She’s a friend, she help us. Daniel, stop being silly it’s not her fault. IT’S NOT!

Doctor:

Lily do not worry. Just stay calm- Daniel is just having a moment, he will see that the people here are here to help. He knows this is just a blip.

Daniel:
That’s your problem. You don’t understand me- you don’t understand what I went through- you don’t understand anything about my life, but you feel like you can help me. What do you really know? How do i know I can trust you? I‘ve got no reason to trust you.

(Pause)

I’ve got no reason to trust anyone. I was abandoned at 16 by my parents- the disappointment of the family. None of you have seen what I’ve seen- you don’t know the truth about the world like me.

Rob:
Me. The truth of the world is that they don’t really understand any of us! We are labelled as ‘ill’ because we aren’t normal to our society. Daniel has seen the dark truth, but I know the real truth.

Lily:

Dan, Rob (pause) stop being silly, you do not know the truth- how would you ever know the truth, I never told no one the truth.

Doctor:

What truth Lily, what’s your truth?

Lily:

What? What are you talking about. I never said nothing silly.

Rob.

Silly. (Pause) Lily you better not have told anyone the truth.

Lily:

I just told you I never told no one. Why do you never believe me? YOU NEVER BELIEVE ME!

Daniel:
Shut up Lily! Do you ever stop moaning?

Rob:

Moaning? Guys be quiet. Just be quiet for one minute please. I can’t even gather my thoughts properly.

Doctor:

Do you have anything you want to discuss guys? It seems like you all have something on your mind and I really don’t want you to suffer on your own.

Rob:

No, we have nothing to tell you. Even if there was, what evidence is there to tell me that you can do anything for us? It is best we just leave everything be.

Lily:

Be. What use is it doing keeping secrets anymore? Everything is found out somehow. Like when them people at school found out about my illness- they had no way of finding out, but they did.

Daniel:

Well you should know that nothing stays secret, it’s better to just get it over and done with. I know the best that there's always a way of discovering everything.

Rob:

Everything. No we don’t need to say anything, why do we have to say anything. If they can’t accept us then they have to deal with the consequences.

Doctor:

Nobody has to deal with anything. Theres plenty of help for everyone. The worst way that you can suffer is in silence.

Lily:

The truth is, there is no truth so really no one is suffering at all (Lily giggles nervously)

Daniel:

The truth is that doc will find out anyway- we just need tell her so you get in less trouble.

Rob:

The truth is that no one needs to know anything, what is there to know anyway? It's not like they would believe anything WE would say is there

(Camera pans round back of main protagonist- Rob and fades to black. As the camera begins to pan out into a wider angle shot the room now only has two chairs remaining- one empty chair and the main protagonist)

(Rob is the only remaining character in the scene. He gets up and walks off through a set of doors. He enters a small room- which appears almost like a closet. As he enters the room you can see a young male tied up in the corner- he appears ill and weak. He shows no signs of trying to battle against Rob)

Rob (speaking as Rob):

No one will ever need to know- this is how it has to be done.

Rob(speaking as Daniel):

They were always going to find out (pause) it’s better this way.

Rob (speaking as Lily):

I’m sorry, i’m so sorry, but telling the truth now would just be silly.

END.