An explosion of colour and sound at Goonellabah Public School on Monday set the stage for an educational play that aims to teach primary students financial literacy.

The premiere of ‘Cent$ational Harry and the Balance of Life’, the brainchild of Evans Head based company Ethical Investor and local writer/director Paul Johnson, was performed to the primary school’s Year 5 and 6 students while a review panel for the NSW Department of Education and Training looked on.

The performance engaged the students for 45 minutes with the three Brisbane-based actors utilising elements of pantomime,music, dance and physical theatre to convey the message of the importance of financial responsibility in a humorous and upbeat way.

The play’s central message is that “money gives you what you want in life and is a vehicle for success”, said Ethical Investor’s executive director, Michael Walsh.

“(These days) kids have lot more access to money so we saw the opportunity to get the point across about responsible money management” Mr Walsh said.

Mr Walsh said these are increasingly essential life skills for kids as young as nine and ten as the money box and in-school banking have gone by the wayside.

Once the review panel authorises the play to be performed in NSW public schools, the play will launch in Northern NSW in July and Queensland in August, followed by Sydney and Melbourne later in the year and there are plans to tour the other states in 2008.

Public and private schools interested in hosting the play can phone David Taylor on 6682 4817.