All’s Fair in Love and Heartache

Sometimes…often, what our hearts say and what our minds tell us to do seem wildly differing-especially in the rolls and reels of a relationship. By the time we’ve navigated through our teens we become all too familiar with this dichotomy but soldier on in the name of love and life, dismissing the tug ‘centre-chest’ as too emotional, melodramatic, superstitious even.

But what if your heart was really insistent? What if, what your heart wanted was beyond visceral intuition and verging on a reality that was almost…physical.

Why do we associate the heart with emotions? Why does it feel so physically localised when we’re mentally hurt? Is there any scientific basis?

Playwright Sophia Mertins got inspired by these questions and the scientific research on our sixth-sense ‘Interoception’, by Dr Sarah Garfinkel and Dr Cassandra Gould (who will be speaking at Rhythms of the Heart on March 20th and 21st) to present us with what she thought… in the form of an all-male comedy-drama ‘This Broken Heart’. If rehearsals (pictured) are anything to go by you will be entertained at the very least and hopefully be prompted to have questions of your own:

What if your heart could literally tell you what it wanted? Would you be elated, fascinated, creeped out or just irritated?

And maybe we should listen to it…even if it is annoying, irrational, dangerous even..?

Sophia Mertins

1. What do you do?

Part creative writer, part conceptual artist, sometimes blogger.

Human. Runs fast. Writes lots. Works hard. Likes food. Mucho.

2. What was your interest in joining the project?

I love all things science and I wanted to get involved in an exciting project where I could team up with scientists and a group of original and quirky artists. I saw it as an opportunity to learn new things and write something fun.

3. What have you found interesting since being in it?

How little I knew about my own heart.

4. Anything you learnt scientifically, artistically, philosophically?

There was so much I didn’t know about the human heart. I ended up being in complete awe of its processes. I learnt a lot of scientific facts about it and it made me open up to questions I would not have previously considered.

5. Looking forward to anything specific in the show?

Quirky cabaret and science-y talks!