Synchronizing Heartbeats
The other day I was reading an article from the New York Times titled, “An Antidote to Digital Dehumanization? Live Theater.” The article discussed a recent discovery made by neuroscientists studying the impact of live theatre on its audience. The neuroscientists found that the heartbeats of individuals in an audience of live theatre can actually synchronize as they watch a performance.
In other words, theatre physiologically creates connection and unification.
As a current student of theatre, my first thought to this scientific discovery was, Yes! Of course this happens. What can occur in the space between actor and audience is limitless, sacred and transcendent. It only stands to reason that the gravity of the theatrical event itself is enough to get all those hearts beating in rhythm.
Okay, maybe too philosophical and probably too romanticized…
What about practically? What really changes when you walk into a theatre?
Well, the NYT article goes on to explain that unlike so much of our world, the theatre invites you to turn off your phone, pay attention, and simply witness another human being (or beings) take action. There is no pausing. There is no binging. There are no reruns. You can’t (or at least you really shouldn’t) live tweet it. You get what you get in the moment. There is a script, costumes, set, and some direction, but outside of that, whatever else happens belongs to the moment in which it occurs. The theatre is difficult to control, pin down, or monetize.
Like a connection found only in moments between longtime lovers, close family, beautiful friends, the theatre leaves its audience feeling validated, moved, unified.
And now we know thanks to smart people called neuroscientists, we’re unified even by the movement of our life source.
I’m so excited to be studying theatre in the world we live in.
It is a chaotic world, a world of uncertainty, violence, silent indifference, confusion. It is a world in which vulnerability, courage, and hope are ignited one day, extinguished the next, only to be ignited again. There is so much possibility for growth, and yet, so much fear that growth can never come to fruition. Barricades of protection stand in our way as individuals, keeping us from jumping feet first into life.
I wonder what might happen if we could synchronize more heartbeats in the theatre this year. I also wonder if there are other venues where heartbeats get synchronized, where the uncertain and confused find solace through human connection. I wonder what it might mean, if we, as theatre artists or physical therapists or fifth-grade teachers, truly believed everyday that our work has tangible, life-altering purpose.
So, here’s a goal I have for 2018: synchronize more heartbeats. I want to explore what that means both onstage and off, and I want to encourage others to do the same. I’m excited to use this blog as a means to explore, share, connect, challenge and encourage.