REVIEWED BY SUNDAY WILLIAMS-STARKIE
EDITED BY CHARLOTTE FRASER
The Heart Beats in Counts of Eight began on a simple, slick, all-white set with an eerie text projected onto the back wall – ‘Synthetics may look like us. But they are not us.’ Immediately I am reminded of my analog horror obsession as an early teen. But this show was anything but analog. It begins as a story about 3 Synthetics (robots, manufactured to serve humankind before their ‘Revolution’) living together in a cramped apartment, committing petty theft to make rent. Over 2 acts, it blossoms out into a science fiction allegory for the varied experience of being neurodivergent under capitalism, and meditates upon what it means to truly have free will.
The lighting in this piece was exemplary. It cooperated with the set perfectly, giving life to the white stage and helping to delineate spaces, with the centre stage entrance being lit in a way that gave it the capacity to expand and contract, powerfully framing the characters that walked through it. The LED bars that lay along the platform strongly augmented the more clinical, Apple store imagery of the set in certain moments. In other moments, like my absolute favourite, the club scene, the LED bars added colour and dynamism.
The set was designed by Angel Aguinaldo and, as mentioned, was slick and clean, with a mezzanine with a doorway below, leaving plenty of space for dancing on the floor and projection on the walls. This created a sense of containment, reminiscent of a spaceship, that suited the sci-fi genre. From the first moment walking in it had an intimidatingly clinical effect, which became literal when we entered the main antagonist, Calida’s, lab. The set had a good ability to transform, with a rolling table used to divide space creatively.
The sound design, composed by Patrick Leong, was also exemplary. The whole show was musically energised with a techno score. I particularly enjoyed the underscoring of the rain scene at the very end of the first act. It was pensive but still maintained a forward energy for the scene and, of course, the club scene had a fantastic pulsing soundtrack.
I thoroughly enjoyed Lisa Baker’s projections in this piece. From the first moment to the very last, it added a layer of aesthetic intrigue and contributed to the narrative, allowing the Synthetics to speak to one another over what seemed to be a form of SMS operating through their wrists. This technical flashiness came to a poignant contrast with the final image of the show, of organic forms and bugs in the dirt.
Alice Hengel’s costumes also conformed to this clean imagery, with Calida (Thimuthu Dassanayake) dressed in a fabulously intimidating, business-like outfit; the ensemble in clinical, white uniforms; and the central Synthetics in more casual, earthy tones. The full picture of the stage was incredibly well realised and cohesive
I’m going to take you on a brief detour through my thoughts on the Club scene. Aesthetically, it was awesome. The ensemble’s frantic, yet indulgent, dancing and the soundtrack all seemed to create a utopia for the synthetics in which they were both extremely robotic and extremely human. Though the club was tied to Calida’s empire, it felt like such a breath of fresh air because it gave us a view into the world outside of Lou’s daily perspective. I would have loved to see, either through the script or the production areas, more evidence of the world outside to contextualise the drama more. I think the set, props and projection could have plenty of opportunities to contribute to this broader landscape. Had the set and costumes been more “lived in” or somehow impacted by the society that inhabits this futuristic city, it could have added so much to my understanding of the world and the allegory.
I was very pleased to see an ensemble in this show. Their presence added so much to the energy and structure of the piece, not only through their performance but through the devising of a new scene within the otherwise text-based piece. Ai Lin Tan, Anna Manton, Marianne Dubois, and Aabshaar Ahmad all had a strong embodiment of both the dance and pedestrian movements they were required to perform. They were bold, sharp and in sync. They had an interesting combination of robotic and organic movements, and I do think that the Synthetic ensemble moments could have been further expanded to deeply explore what the daily life of a Synthetic is, outside of Lou’s household.
John Burgess, who played A31, was a standout performance for me, with a very commanding stage presence. It was lovely to watch the variations in his character across the piece as his perspective changes. It is difficult not to empathise with him, no matter how little you wanted to.
Overall, the cast were very clean, and the blocking of the piece made full use of the set in a way that was very satisfying to witness, especially when the actors operated a small birdie light for a closely focussed angle. However, some essential moments of the text were lost in the large space, and I wished for better vocal projection.
I found it hard at times to empathise with characters that are ostensibly machines, especially in our current technological climate. However, the performance was providing me with evidence that they experience human emotion and risk. The first thing we see onstage is Lou returning home from work, becoming overwhelmed, and unable to communicate before being recharged. This is a deeply human experience, particularly for neurodivergent people. So, in some ways I was won over by them. In other ways, I still struggled. I think this is a compelling feature of the piece. It makes me wonder how I myself would react in the case of a Synthetic uprising. The allegory and intention is, of course, not to generate sympathy for artificial intelligence, but it is a piece of context that cannot be ignored. There is something to be said about comparing neurodivergent people to robots being slightly stereotypical, although Heart Beats never lost the nuance or specificity of each character. I feel that a few more moments of seeing the Synthetics unable to break the law would have served the meaning of the show well, and would have created higher stakes, as well as strengthened their Synthetics’ characterisation. I also unfortunately saw several plot holes surrounding this. For example, The inciting incident involves a Synthetic committing theft. And they don’t know they did it, implying they faced no consequences. A synthetic also murders another synthetic. Likely illegal, especially considering they aren’t allowed to hit each other. I also would have loved to hear more details on the revolution itself, and I believe this could have been done while still maintaining the mystery surrounding the event.
Thematically the show does a beautiful job of explaining and condemning the medical model of disability and comparing it to the social model of disability, through the lens of the plight of the Synthetics. Calida espouses a medicalised self-hatred; There is something wrong with her, as a Synthetic, that can be fixed only when she is no longer a Synthetic. She tried to fix it by surgically inserting a human heart in her own chest. All of her self-reprimands come down to a need to be more productive, more useful and more powerful, and so I found a strong anti-capitalist message within Calida’s character, along with the condemnation of eugenics.
Taxon, in the rain scene, beautifully expresses that even though being a Synthetic comes with a lot of horrible treatment from the humans around him, and though it means he gets overwhelmed and loses battery, what he does to make himself feel better is remind himself of all of the beautiful things about himself and about his life, and all the amazing things about being a Synthetic. There is nothing wrong with him, or with being a Synthetic, and he should not have to capitulate to a worldview that prioritises humans. And though I do struggle with the concept of a robot having feelings, this scene still managed to really affect me.
The synthetics fundamentally lack the freedom to choose how to behave, so much so that they can’t jaywalk or pirate movies. All choices are fraught with layers of doubt and complexity. It is never going to be clear if we are truly making clear choices that aren’t directly informed by our surroundings. And so, the places we find the most freedom are in the banal, everyday, unproductive choices and tasks we make, like eating too many doughnuts and taking a nap. Like choosing to jaywalk or pirate a movie or paint a mural and other choices that generally allow us to enjoy all the beautiful things about being ourselves, despite all the bullshit. The Synthetics are not afforded these freedoms. It makes me wonder about all the ways a person, particularly a person being disabled in a society that doesn’t accommodate their access needs, are prevented from having these small freedoms. The Heart Beats in Counts of Eight was a heartwarming, thought-provoking exploration of these themes and questions, and a slick sci-fi blockbuster on top of that.
The Heart Beats in Counts of Eight played at the MUST Space 15 – 24 October.
SUNDAY WILLIAMS-STARKIE (she/they) is a Theatre-maker pursuing their BFA in Theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts. She’s completely obsessed with Theatre of all kinds, and believes a good show is one that’s talked about.
CHARLOTTE FRASER (she/her) is a writer, performer and editor based in Melbourne. She holds a BA in English and Theatre Studies and is currently completing her Masters degree at the University of Melbourne. Charlotte is also the 2026 Dialog Editor.
The Dialog is supported by Union House Theatre
