Does Watching Theatre Make Your Heart Race? A British Theatre Wants to Find Out
There is no doubt that live theatre can make hearts aflutter. Whether it's the opening chords of "Hamilton" or seeing Elphaba fly for the first time, it's an easy to assume that the heartbeats in the theatre are going just a bit fast.
Now a theatre in England wants to see just how much.
The Royal Shakespeare Company wants to see how live theatre impacts heart rates as opposed to when they are viewed via screening.
For their upcoming production of Titus Andronicus, audience members will wear heart rate monitors on their wrists throughout a performance of the play. They will also be monitored while viewing a live cinema screening of the show.
This would be the first time a study like this has taken place. The play, known for its action and gore, is a perfect piece to test this on. In fact, I picked the picture above because it was the only one that wasn't "graphic".
I would be very interested in seeing the results of this study. With the emerging popularity of home viewing of live theatre that has ramped up the past couple of years, this could prove to be a major reason why that trend needs to continue and even increase.
If it could be proven that there is no physical difference from watching live theatre as opposed to watching it at home, then that might be live streams and tapings from companies such as Netflix and Amazon a whole lot more attractive.
So let's keep on eye on this because it could prove to be one of the more important studies concerning the future of theatre.