The Greeks called it catharsis, a self-help guide might call it escapism, a realist sees it as a chance to drown your sorrows over interval drinks. There’s no doubt that playwrights of past and present have often opted for heartbreak as their theme. Whether you’re at the denial, anger, bargaining, depression, or acceptance stage of your healing process, The Split has the perfect play for you.
1. Denial: Heaven by Eugene O’Brien (2022)
Welcome to the most delusional stage of your breakup when you don your rose-tinted glasses and pretend that everything could have been better if you’d just done XYZ differently. This pared back Irish play is the perfect thing to yank you right out of your daydreams. Heaven follows a middle-aged married couple attending a wedding, portrayed by characters performing separate monologues and never interacting with one another. The ceremony prompts a reflection on their own relationship, and they start to realise that maybe life could have been much better if they had broken up 20 years earlier.
Where to watch:
Heaven has recently finished its run at Southwark Playhouse Borough, and is touring the UK and Ireland throughout 2025.
2. Anger: Medea by Euripides (431 BCE)
Athens in the fifth century BCE was hardly a society known for its liberal attitudes towards women. Therefore, it’s a testament to how Euripides pushed the boundaries of the tragic genre that we sympathise with child-murdering Medea over her unfaithful ex-husband, Jason, who drives her towards the deed. Now, we here atThe Split do not endorse infanticide, but it’s hard not to root for Medea’s iconic female rage, and scoff alongside her as Jason claims that his social climbing new marriage is what’s best for their family. Head to the theatre before you’re ready for closure and maturity, and indulge in your darkest revenge fantasies from the comfort of the stalls.
Where to watch:
John Davie’s accessible and fluid translation of the Greek is a good place to start if you don’t want to commit to buying a theatre ticket, or you can stream the 2014 National Theatre production starring the late Helen McCrory here.
3. Bargaining: All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare (c.1600)
This breakup stage where the dregs of love risk tipping over into obsession can be dangerous. Shakespeare seemed to know. All’s Well That Ends Well isn’t performed that often, partly because it deals with themes a little too dark for a typical Shakespearean comedy. The plot concerns the low-born Helena stopping at nothing to win the heart of the indifferent Bertram, including travelling across Europe and ingratiating herself into his family. I’m not saying any of us need a Shakespeare play to teach us not to go to such lengths, but it’s still a useful cautionary tale against trying to contact someone who wants nothing to do with you.
Where to watch:
The RSC’s 21st century-set production, staged in 2022, which highlighted themes of toxic masculinity and consent, can be streamed here.
4. Depression: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895)
Hear me out. We thought about some Chekhov or Ibsen for this section, but then promptly realised that the last thing that someone dealing with the crushing finality of heartbreak needs is bleak 19th century naturalism. Instead, enjoy a Victorian comedy of manners, where the greatest romantic problem anyone has is a non-existent brother they invented to avoid socialising, or only wanting to be married to a man named Ernest. Some of the hilariously melodramatic reactions to minor inconveniences in this play can actually be very validating, and help us realise that our romantic woes are really just a bit silly after all.
Where to watch:
You can see this one on the big screen! Book tickets here to see Ncuti Gatwa take on the role of Algernon Moncrieff, streamed in a cinema near you.
5. Acceptance: Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine (1984)
Sunday in the Park with George, the Sondheim classic loosely inspired by the life of the Impressionist painter Georges Seurat, is about the relationship between artist and art, but it also has a poignant “wasn’t to be” love story at its core. Seurat and his muse-slash-mistress Dot take the entire musical to realise both the depth of their mutual feelings and the extent of their incompatibility. Their climactic duet ‘Move On’ is a perfect paean to understand when to let go, with devastatingly accurate lyrics like “The choice may have been mistaken / the choosing was not”. Sometimes the hard part isn’t the breakup, it’s living with yourself afterwards.
Where to watch:
Musicals are notoriously hard to stream online legally, but the Original Broadway Cast recording, featuring legendary Sondheim interpreters Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters, is an unmatched introduction to the show.