Enlightenment

The Pitch

A young man finds the meaning of life … after his death.

The Story

Enlightenment begins with Tom (male 20s) finding Yuthumi (an Indian guru) in the Himalaya. Tom expresses his need to find the meaning of life, in a month. He has been goaded into this quest (and time-frame) by his brother, Godfrey. Tom reveals that he hates his brother, that his brother has a very different perspective on life, and he wants to prove his brother wrong. Yuthumi refuses Tom's request, telling Tom no-one can tell you the meaning of life, and he will not find it with darkness in his heart. Yuthumi gives Tom one chance to prove his worth, which he does. Yuthumi relents, agrees to take Tom as his student, but says, 'You have much to learn, no time to learn it, and no possibility of success. But this … is what gurus do.'

Following Yuthumi's prompt, 'Tell me how this folly started', Tom goes back in his mind to his father's funeral. Tom respected his father, unlike his brother, who despised him. We see the conversation where Godfrey uses Tom's words against him, and goads Tom into finding the meaning of life, in a month, or face humiliation. Triggered by Tom's words, Godfrey reveals he has committed murder, that he killed a boy who had bullied Tom. Godfrey says, perversely, 'I did it for you'. When Godfrey realises Tom will not keep quiet about his crime, Godfrey kills Tom and rolls his body into their father's grave.

When Yuthumi and Tom arrive at Yuthumi's ashram, Yuthumi asks Tom where he is, and reveals to Tom the circumstances of his post-death experience. Yuthumi tells Tom that to find the meaning of life, he must examine his life. Yuthumi helps Tom look deep into his mind to reveal his six tasks, the six lessons he must face, understand, and resolve, to head toward his goal.

Tom embarks on his six tasks. He meets his science teacher, Professor Rawkins. Tom's task is to understand that while Rawkins exemplifies reason, he must discover what's outside the box. Tom meets the nuns who taught his mother, and taught him briefly in Sunday School. The nuns represent the absurd and hypocritical aspects of religion. Tom must discard their bizarre notions but find within their teaching a nugget of truth. Tom recalls his last encounter with his aunt Phyllis, who represents close-mindedness and selfishness. His task is to recognise her as she is, objectively, outside the context and duty of family. Tom meets Helena, a gender-morphing, tantric sex practitioner who lived next to him in his youth. Helena represents a pleasure-focused shortcut to enlightenment. Tom's task is to separate the real from the seductive. Tom meets the witches. The witches ran his school canteen and gave him food when he didn't have enough money. His task is to sift through their philosophy and take onboard the answer to his burning question: 'Should I love or hate my brother? One witch, Edith, says to Tom, 'He's waiting for you in the forest'. Tom says, 'Who?' Edith says, 'You … Yu-thumi.'

Yuthumi is revealed as Tom's 'higher self'. Yuthumi explains to Tom the circumstances of his existence and that he must now recall the characters representing his six tasks and resolve them, one by one, to demonstrate what he has learned. This, he does, revealing that he sees things more broadly than Rawkins, finds the nugget of truth from the nuns, rejects Helena's tempting short-cut, learns about love and hate from the witches, and learns how to deal with his aunt and his brother. We see Tom has made great progress.

We return to the Himalaya with the roles reversed: Tom in the guru position and Yuthumi in the student position. Yuthumi asks Tom what he has learned. Tom answers, but Yuthumi says, 'You knew that already'. Pushing further, Tom blurts out the meaning of life! Yuthumi proudly exclaims, 'And that … is what gurus do!' Tom asks Yuthumi, 'So what now?' Yuthumi reveals that Tom must 'go around again'. Yuthumi squeezes Tom's head in an analogy to squeezing through the birth canal and Tom is reborn.

Enlightenment is a story of Socrates' concept of 'an examined life'.

What's happening?

• September 2024 - the play is being assessed by Katrina Fleming - Producer and Script Development Executive.
• The play has been structured back into two Acts - for an intermission, a new song has been written to end the first Act, and some changes have been made to focus the story.
• Jonathan has composed and scored 'Diamond in the turd', and 'Desperate, deserving and deranged', and is looking for opportunities to workshop his compositions to refine them.
• With structural changes completed and a new final song, a script analysis is being conducted by Chryssy Tintner.
• A professional actor table-read was conducted on 30th June 2024, organised by Timothy Daly.
• The Rawkins song, 'The universe is going to shit' has been completed.
• Music composition is underway. We're planning for a musical trailer late 2024.
• Thank You to Timothy Daly, whose practical craftmanship and methodologies have been helpful beyond words. Timothy may be contacted via his site: Timothy Daly.
• Thank You to Sunil Badami for his cultural insights and sensitivity reading.
• Thank You to the Mill Theatre in Canberra for their actor table-read in November 2023.
• Thank You to Mary Rachel Brown, whose insights and methodologies have greatly assisted in bringing the script to this stage. Mary can be contacted via the Australian Writers' Guild.