Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum. It’s the simple rhythm that governs all our lives. But how often do we really give any thought to our heartbeats?
It’s the idea that sits – quite literally - at the heart of one of the most unusual productions at the Edinburgh festival this year, where the monitored heart rates of the audience will directly influence the outcome of the show.
The Inevitable Heartbreak of Gavin Plimsole tells the story of toymaker Gavin, who receives a life-threatening diagnosis where his heart might stop at any minute. In distress he runs home to his shed where he begins storing his heartbeats in boxes until he knows how best to use them.
Yet, it is not just Gavin’s heartbeats that feature in the show, but those of every member of the audience, who, as they enter the theatre are given heart monitors – and everyone’s heart rates (per minute) are then projected onto the wall.
They are not just there as a disconcerting reminder to the audience of the ever-thumping muscle in their chests. The heartbeats are constantly referred to throughout the narrative and at various moments the audience are asked to raise or lower them to an exact rate, by holding their breath, raising their arms or drumming their thighs.
Those who manage to control their heart rates are then given the power to make decisions about where Gavin’s story goes next. His actions have different consequences and the play has four different outcomes, depending on what choices people’s heart rates make.
Director Kezia Cole said: “We were really taken with this idea that you could hoard your heartbeats as a way to try to reconstruct your life in some way, but also that you could devise a show around real heartbeats. And so the heart-rate monitors then just became the next logical step.
“Look at how many people are hoarding their bio-data by Fitbits and fitness apps on their phones – what do you do with that information? It’s become normal but it is a strange concept to look at your day via your heart rate or the number of steps you’ve taken – what does that really tell you about your lived experiences?”
The tech used in the show to monitor heart rates is the same used by Premiership football coaches, and the company admitted it had initially been a challenge to convince the company to go along with their idea.
Cole said having everyone’s heart rates publicly displayed on the wall, while initially making people feel quite “exposed and vulnerable”, then created a sense of connection between these strangers gathered together, united in common by the beating hearts keeping everyone alive.
At one point in the show everyone is asked to remember their favourite childhood toy and Cole said it had been moving to realise that such memories always had a direct effect everyone’s heart rates. She said: “By going back into the past and remembering something so evocative as playing with your favourite toy provokes this biological response in everyone, no matter how old you are.”
The narrative of the show revolves around Gavin deciding the best way to live his life and use up his remaining heartbeats, whether that’s by embracing the “Yolo” (you only live once) mentality of internet memes or adopting “clean living” by doing nothing but eating kale and practising yoga.
“For me, this really highlights how necessary an audience is to every show,” said Richard Lawton, who plays Gavin. “There is that element people bring to the show just by being there, and there’s something wonderful about highlighting that symbiosis between performer and audience. It’s a celebration that these people have decided to come to a room and share their heartbeats with us for an hour.”
• The Inevitable Heartbreak of Gavin Plimsole is at the Pleasance Dome from 5-29 August
