Writer and actor Karin McCracken's show Heartbreak Hotel, which sold out at the Rising festival in Melbourne and toured internationally, begins a new Australian tour at Arts Centre Melbourne. The production blends a play and monologue with synth-heavy covers of classic breakup songs, examining the psychological and physical impacts of heartbreak, including the extreme example of takotsubo syndrome.
Broken heart syndrome: a real medical condition
In 1983, Japanese doctor Hikaru Sato diagnosed the first medical case of 'broken heart syndrome,' now known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy. The condition causes a sudden, temporary weakening of the heart's left ventricle, often triggered by significant physical or emotional stress like grief. The left ventricle changes shape to resemble a takotsubo, a Japanese octopus pot with a narrow neck and wide base. McCracken describes it as 'poetry made manifest,' finding it remarkable that such a condition is real.
A universal experience explored through art and science
McCracken, co-director of New Zealand theatre company EBKM with Eleanor Bishop, wanted to explore heartbreak as 'as close to a universal experience as one gets.' After her own prolonged heartbreak, she found existing cultural media either 'too grim' or overly optimistic, lacking authenticity. Her goal was to strike a balance between acknowledging pain and offering reassurance. The show draws on literature from Sylvia Plath, Pablo Neruda, Charles Dickens' Miss Havisham, Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, and Rachel Cusk's Aftermath, which describes grief as 'romance's estranged cousin, a cruel character, all sleeplessness and adrenaline unsweetened by hope.'
Physical impacts and the role of awe
The physical effects of heartache are well-documented, including changes in stress hormones like cortisol. Pain from breakup or bereavement activates the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region also linked to rejection. However, this same area is associated with awe, which McCracken sees as an antidote. She notes that during heartbreak, she was 'thinking about myself constantly,' but awe minimizes that, allowing one to see themselves as part of a larger, beautiful world.
Music and humor as healing tools
The show includes renditions of Elvis's Heartbreak Hotel, Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me, and either Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U or Céline Dion's It's All Coming Back to Me Now. McCracken emphasizes the importance of humor, stating, 'I really wanted it to be funny – my god, I wouldn't go to a show about breakup without laughs.' A 2022 German study supports the idea that people regain a sense of control after the first year post-separation, allowing personal growth.
Heartbreak Hotel runs at Arts Centre Melbourne until 19 July, followed by performances at Her Majesty's Theatre in Ballarat, the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre in Wollongong, and the Gold Coast's Home of the Arts.
