Sydney Reviews

Heartbreak Hotel invites its audience into an intimate portrait of the universal and isolating experience of heartbreak.

The show blends elements of stand-up comedy, drama, performance-lecture and music to do what theatre does best – connecting people through common experience in a shared time and place.

Writer, performer and budding musician Elenor Bishop dissects the idea and experience of heartbreak. She draws on a wealth of popular and academic culture and on her own recent experience. She leads us through the all-to-recognisable stages of shock, grief, longing, bargaining, begging, excruciating humiliation and resignation.

Joining Bishop on stage is fellow New Zealand based actor, Simon Leary. He’s a worthy foil and fool, playing a cast of characters. First, he wows us with a short, committed cameo as Elvis-the-pelvis. Then we meet that patronising guy from the dating apps, the sympathetic but bemused doctor, our protagonist’s ex-love, and her gay best friend.

Bishop has clearly taken a deep dive into the science behind heartbreak. Her succinct and witty explanations draw us deeper into our shared experience.

Various story arcs unfold in the dramatic scenes. The warmest, funniest, and most authentic is of the protagonist’s healing trip with her gay best friend to the nightclubs of Berlin. 

Filament Eleven 11’s production and light design by is elegant and outstanding, as is the sound design by Aihe Butler. The effect is both hi tech and low fi, underpinning and enhancing the emotional trajectory of the show.

But the most mesmerising element of Heartbreak Hotel is Bishop’s live music. Accompanying herself on a small synthesizer, she sings snippets of heartbreak songs that are familiar to us all. With her understated delivery and heavy use of autotune and delay effects, she sounds like a love child of Cher and Laurie Anderson.

Heartbreak Hotel is a product of innovative New Zealand theatre company EBKM. It premiered in 2025 and has travelled the world to well-deserved acclaim.