Heartbreak Hotel
Presented by Luminato Festival
Supported by Creative New Zealand
A woman’s heart breaks. But what actually happens next — inside the body, inside the mind, inside the story we tell ourselves?
Straight from an Off-Broadway run, Heartbreak Hotel sees acclaimed New Zealand company EBKM (Yes Yes Yes) blend storytelling, science, and synth-driven music to explore heartbreak from the inside out. Part love story, part physiology lesson, the show follows one woman as she tries — earnestly, awkwardly, and often hilariously — to understand what it really means when love ends.
Directed by Eleanor Bishop and performed by Karin McCracken, with Simon Leary slipping between ex-lovers, best friends, and emotional ghosts, the journey moves through bad Tinder dates, club nights in Berlin, lo-fi breakup songs, and tentative new beginnings. Iconic tracks surface along the way — songs like I Can’t Make You Love Me, It’s All Coming Back to Me, and Heartbreak Hotel itself — echoing the moments when words fall short and music says everything.
As she studies the chemistry of love, shrinking us down to a cellular level and taking a cool, clinical look at her own pain, one truth becomes clear: some feelings resist explanation — especially when you’re making tacos for one.
Funny, raw, and unexpectedly tender, Heartbreak Hotel is for anyone who’s loved deeply and lost painfully. A show for broken hearts, open hearts, and anyone who knows that connection — messy, fragile, and beautiful — is what makes us human.
