Heartbreak Hotel – 27 March 2026

Heartbreak Hotel is the story of a woman (Karin McCracken) who is living with heartbreak and her efforts to understand the intense feelings she experiences in the aftermath of a breakup with her partner of six years (Simon Leary). The story is told through scenes, presentational monologues, synthesized music, and inventive versions of familiar breakup songs. The show begins with some light crowd work and apologies for not having professional training before it dives into an alternation  between three separate worlds: a world in which McCracken demonstrates her post break up relationships with various men (all played by Simon Leary) in naturalistic scenes, a world reminiscent of a Ted Talk in which McCracken presents the science behind various phases of a break up, and a world where she expresses herself through music by reimagining songs about heartbreak. These three distinct worlds show different planes of McCracken’s life—the literal, the physical, and the emotional. The concept of heartbreak as a hotel evokes the idea that your stay is temporary and that heartbreak is not a state you will be in forever.

The concepts expressed in the show are interesting, relatable, and important. However, the presentation style, and lighting in particular (Filament Eleven 11 – production design) is holding this production back. There are very few lights hung in the grid; most of the show is lit by LED strip lights. When displaying words, these strip lights were interesting, but when displaying random half circles moving around in the scientific presentations, they were distracting and served no real purpose. In contrast, the LED strip light moment depicting stars at the end while McCracken meditated was absolutely beautiful and added an element to the darkness that was striking and deeply purposeful. This to say, just because something a designer is using has a feature, doesn’t mean it should be used. The design elements of the show as a collective lacked intention, and dragged down the content. Sound Designer Te Aihe Butler did a great job making sound and music accessible to the performer, and I think that I would have enjoyed the show more if she had not apologized for a lack of musical training because it cast doubt on those moments, which were strong enough to support themselves without apology.

Despite some technological shortcomings, the creative content around the topic of heartbreak is relatable, and really resonates with the audience. McCracken breaks the fourth wall a lot, and people feel comfortable enough to respond. The irony that’s carefully laced into the scenes themselves is well thought out, and amusing despite the dark context of the broader story. The ending is hopeful—instead of turning inward and seeing problems, McCracken is seeing the sky and the stars and the brightness of a new world around her. Though not fully there yet visually, Heartbreak Hotel has a great deal of potential. What it needs most is trust—particularly Karin McCracken’s self trust that she is the right person to tell this story because she has written something good that requires no apologies or caveats.

I attended this performance on a press pass from Boneau/Bryan-Brown.