Review: The Heartbreak Club

**Picture (L to R):** Members of *The Heartbreak Club,* Tess (Sophie Lawson), Claudia (Samantha McClurg), Veronica (Candice Jean), and Tess (Cassie Baan). *Image credit: Creative Futures Photography*

The Heartbreak Club is promoted as ‘a dark comedy about heartbreak, healing, and (possibly) homicide.’ Set in Veronica’s suburban basement refuge, four women come together as a secret support group, naturally known as The Heartbreak Club, to find pathways to healing. Which of course means that their thoughts turn to revenge on the gaslighting, thieving and deceptive Rob.

I can see why Kate Paraskevos (writer) won the audience vote at the Thundering Productions’ 2025 New Voices Scratch Night. A light-hearted piece about life, love, and the ways in which their manipulative former lover deserves to die, The Heartbreak Club has a good plot, and Paraskevos has created a group of memorable and sometimes funny female characters. Mikayla Maree Melo (Director, who also jointly runs Thundering Productions) has attracted a great cast of five for the piece, and placing the world premiere run in the Yeronga Paint Factory Hub is a cost-effective way to establish a basement setting.

Although the four women share a loathing of the toxic Rob, they are very different characters. Veronica (Candice Jean) is a strong lead, acting as the Chair of the club, and keeping the show on the road. Tess (Sophie Lawson) is the tech genius of the group, and has some really funny moments when confessing to stalking and hacking. And the ‘new girl,’ Claudia (Samantha McClurg), is an excellent foil for the rest of the group, as she begins to realise how they have together ‘opened my world up.’ It is always unfair to have favourites, but The Heartbreak Club benefits from an excellent performance by Cassie Baan (Tess). Baan is an excellent character actor, has some great moments of comic business as ‘the wildly inappropriate chaos goblin,’ and manages to move the audience, even when wearing a hot dog Halloween costume.

I like the ways in which the backstories of each of the members of the cast are revealed, and how we began to learn just quite how vile Rob is. Having a ‘token male’ in the cast is also a good idea. Veronica’s brother, Elliott (Jack Lovett, who also jointly runs Thundering Productions), reminds us that there are some decent, if also a little awkward, blokes in the dating pool. Lovett’s interactions with Jean were a well-observed reminder of the younger brother-older sister dynamics, and Lovett’s awkwardness around his love interest was charming.

Despite a plot that centres on discussions as to how to kill someone, The Heartbreak Club is more of a romcom, so don’t expect a dark crime-thriller. This is a play that is light on the serious homicidal ideas, and heavy on the gentle comedy and healing; less Over Your Dead Body and more The First Wives Club. But do look forward to light humour and several great one-liners—including the delivery of the excellent ‘we’re not trying to date rape him’ line.

The Heartbreak Club makes for a fun evening out for a group of friends or Book Group members. The show has several acts, where the use of the upbeat music to separate each act, and costume shifts to support the passage of time, was all nicely done. And watching the very serious conversations taking place while the female leads were in their Halloween costumes really adds to the fun. However, If there were to be any future development of The Heartbreak Club, I suggest that shaving 5-10 minutes off the run time, and removing any intermission, would help with the pacing of the show. And selecting a more intimate venue, such as The Raven Hotel Cellar or one of the smaller Paint Factory spaces, would provide an excellent basement vibe—or even placing the show in the Albion New Tricks wine and gin bar would equally provide a funky alternative for a shorter version of the play.

Congratulations to the Thundering Productions team on their successful world premiere of this new work. The Heartbreak Club has concluded the 2026 Anywhere Festival shows, but tickets are still available for the Broadbeach Cultural Centre shows (12-14 June).

Catherine Lawrence

**Picture**: *The Heartbreak Club* at The Paint Factory hub, Anywhere Festival 2026 (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).

Audience information: 2026 Anywhere Festival Brisbane The Heartbreak Club at The Paint Factory Festival Hub, 115 Hyde Road, Yeronga (three shows, 23-24 May 2026). Tickets $30. Warnings include occasional coarse/crude language and references to gaslighting and homicide (15+). 75 minutes (plus interval). Uneven surfaces, so always wise to wear practical shoes. Bring a jacket or warm clothing as the space is not heated.

The reviewer attended the 23 May 2026 performance (3pm).

Geoff Lawrence