Watching Titus Andronicus like a short workout

WATCHING Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare’s goriest revenge tragedy, is akin to having a five-minute workout.

In a study, the Royal Shakespeare Company monitored participants as they watched a play guaranteed to get the blood pumping on three different platforms: in the theatre, the cinema and using a 360-degree virtual reality headset, to compare levels of emotional engagement.

It found that while there were more people with a raised heart rate at the start of the theatre performance, the overall number of times the heart rate peaked above average was comparable in all three conditions,

That is a level equivalent of a fiveminute cardio workout

Also, men had a greater emotional reaction than women, it found.

Sarah Ellis, RSC director of digital development, said: “The results have shown us that even after more than 400 years, Shakespeare’s work still packs an emotional punch to today’s audiences wherever and however it is experienced.”

The play has 14 killings, with nine of them on stage, six severed members, one rape, a live burial, a case of insanity and one of cannibalism – an average of 5.2 atrocities per act, or one for every 97 lines, reports Shmoop, an educational website.