Heartbreak Hotel Returns to Arts Centre Melbourne After RISING Sell-Out

Heartbreak Hotel Returns

After a sell-out season at last year's RISING festival and performances in London, Edinburgh, Toronto and New York, Wellington-based company EBKM returns to Melbourne with its acclaimed cathartic comedy Heartbreak Hotel.

Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne, the production stars Karin McCracken as a warm and wonderfully unconventional guide through the aching limbo of a serious break-up.

Part comedy, part theatrical confession and part scientific investigation, the show explores what heartbreak does to the body and mind through personal stories, synth-backed break-up anthems and sharp observations about love, loss and loneliness.

A Strange and Funny Journey Through Heartbreak

Dressed in lavender tassels and accompanied by covers of classic break-up songs from Elvis Presley, Céline Dion and other emotional heavyweights, McCracken attempts to make sense of what happens when a relationship ends.

She draws on famous novels and scientific research, confronts former partners - all played by the versatile Simon Leary - follows a friend into Berlin's club scene and even shrinks the audience down to a cellular level in search of a clinical explanation for heartache.

Yet for all the analysis, some experiences remain stubbornly difficult to explain, including the quiet misery of making tacos for one.

For Broken Hearts and Open Hearts

Funny, candid and unexpectedly moving, Heartbreak Hotel is for the broken-hearted, the open-hearted, the old hearts and the young hearts.

It offers an honest and inventive look at the need for human connection, balancing emotional vulnerability with theatrical playfulness and plenty of laughs.

Performance Details

Heartbreak Hotel will be performed at the Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne, from Tuesday 14 July to Sunday 19 July.

The production runs for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

An Auslan-interpreted performance will be held at 1:00pm on Sunday 19 July.

Tickets start from $69, with group and BlakTix prices also available.

Date Times

Wed 15 Jul
7pm - 8.15pm7:00pm - 8:15pm
Thu 16 Jul
7pm - 8.15pm7:00pm - 8:15pm
Fri 17 Jul
7.30pm - 8.45pm7:30pm - 8:45pm
Sat 18 Jul
2pm - 3.15pm2:00pm - 3:15pm
7.30pm - 8.45pm7:30pm - 8:45pm
Sun 19 Jul
1pm - 2.15pm1:00pm - 2:15pm
5pm - 6.15pm