Enlightenment
a musical comedy
a quest for the meaning of life
'The best comedy is highly intelligent and completely stupid. I hope you find in Enlightenment a delicious blend of both.'
- David Staume
The Pitch
A young man finds the meaning of life … after his death.
The Writer
David Staume is a member of the Australian Writers' Guild and Writing NSW, where he co-convenes the Open Genre Writers' Group. In his spare time he runs a web production company.
David is the author of three published works of creative non-fiction, two published through Llewellyn (USA) and one through Agio Publishing (Canada).
David's goal is to make the profound profoundly funny.
He lives in Sydney, Australia.
The Composer
Jonathan Dimond is a multi-instrumentalist composer and performer, educated in the fields of classical music and jazz improvisation.
Jonathan has a PhD in Composition, Master of Music and Post Graduate Diploma of Music from New England Conservatory (USA), and a Bachelor of Music. He has also undergone training in North Indian classical music in Pune. He is currently senior lecturer and head of program at Melbourne Polytechnic, where he runs the Bachelor of Music degree.
He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
I've just finished reading/singing my way through your musical ... I loved it!
Tom is so likeable, Godfrey is so despicable and everyone has an Aunty Phyllis.
Your imagination has no boundaries - you entertained me, you made me laugh out-loud!
What's happening?
- A re-work is being actioned to add a 'ticking clock', drive the protagonists tasks more compellingly, and develop the urgency, danger, and surprise at the end.
- 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.
A thought-provoking musical comedy ... Just what the world needs!