Heartbreak hotel
Awards
Best Play / Time Out Melbourne, Arts & Culture Awards 2025
Actor of the Year (Karin McCracken) / Wellington Theatre Awards 2024
Sound Designer of the Year (Te Aihe Butler) / Wellington Theatre Awards 2024
Writer
Karin McCracken
Director
Eleanor Bishop
Producer
Melanie Hamilton
Cast
Karin McCracken
Simon Leary
This one’s for the young hearts, the old hearts, and the broken hearts. An exhilarating 75-minute work from the acclaimed New Zealand creative team of Eleanor Bishop and Karin McCracken. Karin is a woman navigating heartbreak and Simon Leary plays all her ex-loves in a funny and moving show that is studded with lo-fi covers of classic breakup songs, bad dates and attempted fresh starts. It ingeniously incorporates science and technology to give us a holistic picture of heartbreak’s impact on our bodies and minds. You’ll want to cry. You’ll want to laugh. Welcome to the HEARTBREAK HOTEL.
U.S. Premiere, Spring 2026!
Production Design
Filament Eleven 11
Created By
EBKM
Sound Designer
Te Aihe Butler
The Buzz
★★★★★
“One of the best productions I’ve seen this year…an exemplar of what can be accomplished when creative stagecraft meets authentic, measured storytelling.”
Time Out Melbourne
★★★★
“It hijacks your nervous system and fast tracks its way into your soul…I defy even the coldest cynic to resist the aching charm of this unapologetically tender two-hander.”
The Scotsman
“I laughed, I was moved, I felt every emotion. This is compelling theatre at its best…This is a show for a thinking person who wants to be entertained.”
Broadway World New Zealand
“Poignant, funny, and fantastic…Karin McCracken is, quite simply, brilliant. She’s hilarious, heartwarming and moving - often all at once.”
Theatreview