E=mc2 the Musical was written by Haberfield PS music teacher David Collins-White, Chris Kohn and Lindsay Scandrett and commissioned by Aboriginal Education group Good to Great Schools in 2021. It was the brainchild of Australian indigenous leader Noel Pearson. It premiered in Hope Vale school an indigenous school on Cape York, Queensland in 2021 and then was performed by Haberfield Public School where I teach in Sydney May 2022. The purpose of the musical is to foster primary student’s passion for science and history via the arts. This web page https://emc2.org.au/ has more details of the 2022 production and background.
In the new production for 2026 as well as developing new designs and theatrical direction, we plan to expand the science related activities for HPS students around the scientific concepts of Energy, Mass and Light. We also plan to share these resources developed for this new production with other local schools and collaborate again with our partners at Hope Vale state school in QLD.
As this is an unique Australian musical production featuring arguably the 20 century’s most famous physics formula and its history, delivered via the arts, so we plan to develop resources which can be shared to all Australian schools and communities plus share it with others internationally.
Some evidence of impact from 2022 production are the radio program reports which Robyn William of the ABC National Science program did. You can listen to these using the links below.
ABC Radio National Science program – Haberfield Public School story:
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/primary-students-present-einstein-the-musical/13914532
ABC Science Radio National Hope Vale school story:
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/einstein-musical-introduces-students-to-physics-through-perform/13566672
Promo video of highlights from the Haberfield PS production in 2022 here - https://youtu.be/N_fLhkHZ6Fk?si=V_wKs8wIVyqq7osg The musical also features multimedia musical animations which are played and linked with each song in the show. The following URL link will show some highlights of the songs with animations - https://youtu.be/aetHz0CYO2g?si=x2BNf8wJqRpScxIZ
SYNOPSIS
Sarah and Jack are students who love their science and take school projects very seriously! They build a time machine powered by ‘brain energy’ to visit the ‘Ancestors’ of Albert Einstein’s famous formula E=mc2. They recruit Jack’s sister Laura and his football-loving friend Dave to balance the brain energy needed for their time travel adventure.
They’ll visit the extraordinary scientists behind the famous equation E=mc2. Michael Faraday, the ‘E’ man, Antoine and Marie Anne Lavoisier, the ‘M’ people, Albert and Mileva Einstein, who enlighten them to the importance of light, the ‘C’ part, and finally, Émilie du Châtelet who explains the purpose of the little number 2 that floats above the ‘C’; the all-important ‘squared’.
But as brilliant as our time-travellers are, something goes wrong at the touch of a button, causing everyone to shrink to subatomic size. Here they meet the protons, neutrons, and electrons inside the atom. Escaping before Lise Meitner uncovers the secret to splitting the atom, they hear the tragic story of Lise’s life journey. And where are the ‘Women of Science’? Laura is outraged history has almost forgotten them.
Follow Sarah, Jack, Laura and Dave as they journey through time to deliver their E=mc2 science project to the class and receive an outstanding result for their work.
