S A I N T S' Zak Giles Pidd on beginning, finishing, and what happens in between
1. How do you begin?
I’m honestly never sure when the beginning begins. I’m not very good at sitting down and deciding to start, I prefer to let things creep up and infiltrate my subconscious and suddenly I’m in the thick of it! It’s a bit chaotic I’ll admit but it helps me to feel like it’s a part of my everyday life and stops it feeling like homework. I like to trust that a lot is going on in my brain that I’m not aware of.
2. How do you know when something is “finished”?
There’s a quote by someone that goes something like “Art is never finished, only abandoned” and I like that idea. I wouldn’t say abandoned though, it feels a bit pessimistic. I think that art is never finished, just made peace with.
3. What is your objective in your work for SAINTS?
This is an Elbow Room play so, naturally, it is full of deep layers of information thrust up against a punk ethos. It’s very anachronistic in its presentation of the past, threading contemporary language and ideas through historical fiction. I think formally that is quite experimental. Marcel is an amazing writer and his attention to detail is formidable, but he maintains an incredibly grounded, fallible, HUMAN spirit throughout his plays. My objective for SAINTS is to embody his words with the same love and IDGAF attitude as him.
Zachary Giles Pidd is a performer, theatre-maker and sound-designer from Naarm (Melbourne). Recent acting credits include My Sister Jill (Melbourne The Company 2023) and Rhinoceros (Fortyfivedownstairs 2024). They are an associate director with House Of Muchness, a performance and art making youth organisation and a frequent collaborator with Polyglot Theatre. They also perform weird pop music under the name Dogchild.
Image by Darren Gill from Rhinoceros
LA MAMA PRESENTS S A I N T S created by Elbow Room
6-27 February 2026
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