Highway of Lost Hearts

Mot wakes up one morning to find that her heart is missing from her chest. She can breathe; she has a pulse—but she feels nothing.

So, she decides to go and look for it. With her dog enlisted as co-pilot, Mot heads down the Highway of Lost Hearts: into the deepest core of the Australian Outback—through country towns in NSW, SA and the NT—navigating red dirt landscapes, fire and flood, brittle dryness, vast salt lakes, age-old mountains and murky waters filled with lost souls.

Bathurst-based Lingua Franca present this truly regional story in a new production starring theatrical powerhouse Kate Smith, with original music composed and performed by alt-country duo and Central West icons, Smith & Jones.

More than just live musicians, Smith & Jones become ethereal companions to Mot as she drives. Their music is perfectly aligned with Mary Anne Butler's writing, part poetry, part road trip playlist, and engages lovers of country and alt country music.

An allegory for a country that has lost its heart, Highway of Lost Hearts is half gritty road journey, half magic realism and all heart. It leaves audiences pondering the question: when your heart goes missing, what lengths will you go to, to find it again?

Highway of Lost Hearts is supported by the NSW Goverment through Create NSW.