Zac

Name: Zac - mental patient, musician, house painter
Personal qualities: funny, placid on drugs, horny, excitable of drugs, Caught in his own world

Relationships: Zac doesn’t form any relationships due to him either being catatonic, on drugs or hyper active off drugs. This leads him to only have brief momentary conversations only really forming acquaintances and the other cast members. He pursues Ruth for a sexual relationship. Seems oblivious to the inappropriateness of this.

Conflict: Zac’s major conflict is with Ruth when he pulls up her skirt during he blackout and she pushes him over. But he also has conflicts with Roy about the play with the direction of the music, set painting and who wrote the opera.

Motivational goals: Zac is motivated by music and music alone. It is his motivation/direction to continue in the play. His musical aspirations are also shown when he attains minor success with a band.

Zac Key Quotes:
‘I’m prepared to play this pissy score for the whole opera, only if I do the overture my way, or else its exit the pianist.'

‘A lower dosage, it’s amazing how much more bright the world seems.’


‘Hey, let’s have an orgy.’


‘Women. You have to wrap it all up in fancy language and then they swoon for you when all it comes down to it the same thing.’


‘Women are god’s punishment for men playing with themselves.’

by Sarah & Jason

Other things to note about Zac:
Zac is also a source of humour - insisting on an overture by Wagner rather than Mozart - totally irrelevant in the scheme of things. Also his dramatic collapse on stage at the end after taking too many pills to calm his nerves.
Nowra uses this character to criticise the use of inappropriate dosages of  medication in treating mental illness. His whole existence is influenced by how much drugs he has in his system - from catatonic to manic. Note that once he is out of the institution he is able to function normally.