Heartbreak Hotel
Newsletter
Theatre
Her Majesty’s Theatre Ballarat and EBKM Presents
Heartbreak Hotel
This one's for the young hearts, the old hearts, and the broken hearts.
08 Aug 2026
Sessions
Saturday
August 08, 2026
19:30 – 20:45
Tickets
August 08, 2026
19:30 – 20:45
Information
Show type
Theatre
duration
75 minutes, no interval
Location
Her Majesty's Theatre Ballarat
Time
Bars Open: 6.30PM
Show Time: 7.30PM
Show Time: 7.30PM
Prices
ON SALE APRIL 2026
Suitable for
Recommended 13+
Additional information
Content Warnings: Heartbreak Hotel contains flashing lights and smoke / haze
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Story, science and a synth combine in an exhilarating performance that examines what happens in our bodies when we’ve had our heart broken. From acclaimed New Zealand company EBKM (Yes Yes Yes), Heartbreak Hotel tracks a woman’s broken heart in a wrenching and relatable journey that's studded with classic break-up songs and razor-sharp observations on the physiology of love.
Join Karin McCracken as she navigates the highs and lows of heartbreak, with Simon Leary embodying the ex-loves and best friends along the way. Packed with lo-fi covers of classic breakup songs, bad Tinder dates, and tentative fresh starts, this show is as funny as it is heartfelt. She follows her friend to the Berlin club scene. She learns the synth. She even shrinks us down to a cellular level in her attempt to take a cold clinical look at the anguish. But it turns out there’s only so much you can intellectualise the feeling of making tacos on your own.
If you've survived the sting of heartache, this show will resonate and give you a new understanding of the complexity and the beauty of love and when it ends. It’s one for the broken hearts. One for the open hearts. Something for anyone who wants a hilarious, honest take on the human need for—and fragility in—connection.
‘Heartbreak Hotel is one of the best productions I’ve seen this year. It’s a tender-hearted exemplar of what can be accomplished when creative stagecraft meets authentic, measured storytelling’ — Time Out Melbourne ★★★★★
‘I defy even the coldest cynic to resist the aching charm of this unapologetically tender two-hander…It hijacks your nervous system and fast tracks its way into your soul’ — The Scotsman UK ★★★★
‘An utterly devoted exploration…Go if you have been heartbroken, go if you haven’t (yet), just go, go, go!’ — Everything Theatre London ★★★★★
'Honest, vulnerable, life-affirming. A must-see’ — Picnic Lightning London ★★★★★
WINNER 'BEST PLAY' — Time Out Melbourne, Arts and Culture Awards 2025
WINNER 'ACTOR OF THE YEAR' — (Karin McCracken) at the Wellington Theatre Awards 2024
WINNER 'SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR' — (Te Aihe Butler) at the Wellington Theatre Awards 2024
Content Warnings: Heartbreak Hotel contains flashing lights and smoke / haze
Join Karin McCracken as she navigates the highs and lows of heartbreak, with Simon Leary embodying the ex-loves and best friends along the way. Packed with lo-fi covers of classic breakup songs, bad Tinder dates, and tentative fresh starts, this show is as funny as it is heartfelt. She follows her friend to the Berlin club scene. She learns the synth. She even shrinks us down to a cellular level in her attempt to take a cold clinical look at the anguish. But it turns out there’s only so much you can intellectualise the feeling of making tacos on your own.
If you've survived the sting of heartache, this show will resonate and give you a new understanding of the complexity and the beauty of love and when it ends. It’s one for the broken hearts. One for the open hearts. Something for anyone who wants a hilarious, honest take on the human need for—and fragility in—connection.
‘Heartbreak Hotel is one of the best productions I’ve seen this year. It’s a tender-hearted exemplar of what can be accomplished when creative stagecraft meets authentic, measured storytelling’ — Time Out Melbourne ★★★★★
‘I defy even the coldest cynic to resist the aching charm of this unapologetically tender two-hander…It hijacks your nervous system and fast tracks its way into your soul’ — The Scotsman UK ★★★★
‘An utterly devoted exploration…Go if you have been heartbroken, go if you haven’t (yet), just go, go, go!’ — Everything Theatre London ★★★★★
'Honest, vulnerable, life-affirming. A must-see’ — Picnic Lightning London ★★★★★
WINNER 'BEST PLAY' — Time Out Melbourne, Arts and Culture Awards 2025
WINNER 'ACTOR OF THE YEAR' — (Karin McCracken) at the Wellington Theatre Awards 2024
WINNER 'SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR' — (Te Aihe Butler) at the Wellington Theatre Awards 2024
Content Warnings: Heartbreak Hotel contains flashing lights and smoke / haze
Cast & Creatives
Karin McCracken
Performer
Performer
Simon Leary
Performer
Performer
Eleanor Bishop
Director
Director
Created By
EBKM
Writer
Karin McCracken
Director
Eleanor Bishop
Production & Light Design
Filament Eleven 11
Sound Designer
Te Aihe Butler
Show Operator
Khalid Parkar
Producer
Melanie Hamilton
Photographer
Andi Crown
Partners
Karin McCracken
Performer
Karin McCracken is an award-winning writer and performer based in Pōneke, Wellington, and the co-artistic director of EBKM, alongside Eleanor Bishop. Karin wrote and performs in Heartbreak Hotel, which has been presented at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, RISING Festival Melbourne and Soho Theatre London.
She co-wrote (with Eleanor Bishop) the large-scale theatre show Gravity & Grace and Yes Yes Yes, a show for young people about healthy relationships.
She co-wrote (with Eleanor Bishop) the large-scale theatre show Gravity & Grace and Yes Yes Yes, a show for young people about healthy relationships.
Yes Yes Yes has been presented in Canada, the USA, Germany, Iceland and Australia, and has been translated into Hungarian, Catalan and Welsh.
Karin and Eleanor were the recipients of the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award in 2022, the first time in its history that it was awarded to a creative partnership.
In 2025 Karin received a MacDowell Fellowship to write a new work for stage.
Karin and Eleanor were the recipients of the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award in 2022, the first time in its history that it was awarded to a creative partnership.
In 2025 Karin received a MacDowell Fellowship to write a new work for stage.
Simon Leary
Performer
Simon Leary has been working professionally as an actor in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally since graduating Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School in 2010.
Film and TV credits include: The Brokenwood Mysteries, Dirty Laundry, Shortland Street, and Hilary. Simon played the lead in A Very Good Boy directed by Samuel Te Kani which recently premiered in official selection at the 82nd Venice Film Festival.
Film and TV credits include: The Brokenwood Mysteries, Dirty Laundry, Shortland Street, and Hilary. Simon played the lead in A Very Good Boy directed by Samuel Te Kani which recently premiered in official selection at the 82nd Venice Film Festival.
Simon has worked in over 30 plays at Circa Theatre in Wellington as an actor including Blithe Spirit, Transmission Beta, Cock, A Servant to two Masters and Switzerland. He has performed with Auckland Theatre Company, The Court Theatre and Centrepoint Theatre.
Simon is a core collaborator with EBKM, appearing in Heartbreak Hotel and the company's large-scale work, Gravity & Grace.
Simon is a core collaborator with EBKM, appearing in Heartbreak Hotel and the company's large-scale work, Gravity & Grace.
Eleanor Bishop
Director
Eleanor Bishop is a director and writer working across theatre, opera and film. As the co-artistic director of EBKM (with Karin McCracken), their works include Gravity & Grace, Heartbreak Hotel and Yes Yes Yes. Their work has toured to the UK, Canada, the USA and Europe and Yes Yes Yes has been translated into Hungarian, Catalan and Welsh.
EBKM are the winners of the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award in 2022, the first time in the awards history it has been given to a partnership. Eleanor is a former Friedlander Foundation Associate Artist for NZ Opera and was a member of Jane Campion’s inaugural pop up film intensive “A Wave in the Ocean” supported by Netflix.
EBKM are the winners of the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award in 2022, the first time in the awards history it has been given to a partnership. Eleanor is a former Friedlander Foundation Associate Artist for NZ Opera and was a member of Jane Campion’s inaugural pop up film intensive “A Wave in the Ocean” supported by Netflix.
Her first short film “GIRL TIME” recently premiered in official selection at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. She holds an MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, USA where she studied as a John Wells Fellow and a Fulbright Scholar.