Heartbreak Hotel

Are you loved or are you lonely? Have you ever been dumped, cheated on or ditched? Then it’s about time you checked in to the Heartbreak Hotel where lost loves come to mourn what once was.

The Heartbreak hotel written by Ian Meadows and Kate Mulvany, directed my Paige Rattray and Shannon Murphy, takes the audience on an emotional journey of love, loss and of course heartbreak.

Entering the charming old Griffin Theatre we are greeted by our very own bellhop, complete with bright red jacket and brass gold buttons and that perfectly tilted hat chinstrap and all. We are given our ‘ticket’ to the hotel which details what we will be seeing that night and where we need to go. Armed with a set of headphones we follow our bellhop through the maze that is Griffin and enter a small theatre. Inside we form a single line were we are branded with a ‘loved?’ or ‘lonely?’ stamp. Thankfully I’m told I’m loved and am able to sit with my friends. The room quickly darkens as ‘Sands through the hour glass’ begins - a contemporary piece with two powerful acting performances detailing a hotel murder the truth about lost love.


Next we trek outside to a nearby park and watch Kate Mulvany’s ‘Yes, No, Maybe’ a humorous piece about schoolyard love, made even funnier by the two adult actors sporting impressive beards successfully portraying 12 year old boys.

The craziest experience for me of the whole night was ‘Teen Crush love’. Two at a time audience members are ushered into a tiny crook of a room and are greeted my twenty or so young girls each pulling at you, desperately trying to get your attention so they can regale you with their tales of woe. It was in a word, overwhelming but extremely well executed.

The rest of the theatre is filled with amusing heartbreak related fun, such as the Museum of lost love, Agony Aunt and the opportunity to send your ex a special little letter saying all those things you wish you had said but didn’t.

The ensemble cast was brilliant. Each actor is so committed to their characters and stories I left feeling as though they just shared their deepest and saddest memories with me....and the other 100 or so guests.

The overall experience was more than just a fun theatre night; it was emotional, exciting and just a little bit empowering to see so many different people coming together understanding and appreciating a common theme – heartbreak.

Reviewed by Morgan Reardon