Edinburgh Festival Fringe - The Inevitable Heartbreak

Winner of Les Enfant Terribles Award 2016, The Inevitable Heartbreak of Gavin Plimsole prompts us to consider our own lives and how we make the most of our heartbeats.

If you knew you had a finite number of heartbeats, how would you make each beat count? Gavin feels a flutter in his heart and is given a life-changing diagnosis. In the time between the beat before this revelation and the beat after, he assesses his entire life; what has he done with those beats? Which has he thrown away? And how many did he lose when she broke his heart?

Gavin Plimsole is hoarding his heartbeats in the shed at the bottom of his garden; he may not have enough heartbeats left, so he may need to borrow some of yours... SharkLegs will measure audience members’ heartbeats using state of the art fitness heart rate monitors during the show. These readings will be projected onto the set and will influence the action and experience of the production every single performance. Through a partnership with ActivioFitness (the forerunner of heart rate group training), the company have created a new way of engaging with theatre.

With puppetry, three actors, a toy pig and a marble run, The Inevitable Heartbreak of Gavin Plimsole brings a surprisingly low-fi approach to some very hi-tech equipment. It takes a stab at answering three important questions; what do we do with our lives, how do we make each moment count and how does bungee jumping make anyone happy?