HEARTBREAK HOTEL
EBKM
This one’s for the young hearts, the old hearts, and the broken hearts.
Story, science and a synth combine in an exhilarating performance that examines what happens in our bodies when we’re bereft. 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.
Heartbreak Hotel comes to Whakatū fresh from smash-hit shows at RISING Festival in Melbourne, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Soho Theatre, London. Enjoy a hilarious, honest take on a universal human experience, and leave feeling all the better for it.
Winner of Best Play at TimeOut Australia Arts and Culture Awards
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
“One of the best productions I’ve seen this year… a tender-hearted exemplar of what can be accomplished when creative stagecraft meets authentic, measured storytelling.” – TimeOut Melbourne [5 stars]
“Slickly staged and sharply written…as funny as it is wistful.” – The Stage
“Hilarious, heartwarming and moving” – Theatreview
Image credit – Andy Crown Photography
Karen McCracken – Writer, performer
Eleanor Bishop – Director
Simon Leary – Peformer
Filament Eleven 11 – Production & Light Design
Te Aihe Butler – Sound Designer
Peter Davidson – Touring Operator
Melanie Hamilton – Producer
EBKM
Eleanor Bishop & Karin McCracken (EBKM) are an award winning partnership of theatre makers who have been making work together since 2017. They make high quality, socially minded, formally innovative contemporary theatre for a range of audiences in Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad, and they develop their work through extensive research and in consultation with audiences, social agencies and academics, as well as long-term collaboration with designers and performers.
Eleanor Bishop is a director and writer and Karin McCracken is a writer and performer. Their works include Heartbreak Hotel, Gravity & Grace, and Yes Yes Yes, and have toured across Aotearoa, as well as Australia, Canada, the USA, Serbia, Iceland, Germany and the UK. Yes Yes Yes has been translated and licensed by companies in Wales and Catalonia, with forthcoming translations from Brazil and Hungary.
Eleanor and Karin were the recipients of the prestigious Bruce Mason Playwriting Award in 2022 for their body of work, the first time in the award’s 40 year history that it was awarded to a creative partnership. In 2024, their large-scale adaptation Gravity & Grace won Production of the Year at the Wellington Theatre Awards, and received a Gold award at the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Awards. In 2025, EBKM will present Heartbreak Hotel and Yes Yes Yes in North America, Australia, and the UK.
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