Plays About Relationships, Love or Love Triangles
These plays about relationships focus on love and relationships, often between unmarried people. The plays with love triangles have their own section at the bottom.
See also:
Plays About Relationships
Sure Thing by David Ives (1 Act)
Betty is reading at a café when Bill approaches, asking if the chair opposite her is taken. She shuts down any interaction. The scene proceeds with multiple iterations of their conversation, as it continually gets reset when they hit a sticking point.
This play can be read in the preview of All in the Timing: Fourteen Plays. (25% in)
Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (4 Acts)
The Prozorov sisters live in a Russian provincial town. They used to live in Moscow and want to return. Irina is the youngest sister at twenty-years-old. She believes work is the solution to life’s problems. Masha, the middle sister, is married but is attracted to Vershinin. Olga, the oldest, finds it hard to cope with life.
Time Flies by David Ives
Horace and May, mayflies, arrive at May’s pond. Horace has seen May home after they met at a party. May invites Horace to stay, and they talk about some of the events from their very short lives. They have a drink and watch television, where they see something surprising.
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (3 Acts)
Jack, who goes by the name Earnest when he’s in the city, wants to marry Gwendolyn. She accepts because she has always wanted to love someone named Earnest. Lady Bracknell is against the marriage. Earnest’s friend, Algernon, introduces himself to Cecily as Earnest. He proposes to Cecily, only to find she is way ahead of him.
Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw (3 Acts)
It’s November 1885, the time of the Serbo-Bulgarian War. Raina, a young Bulgarian woman, gets news that her fiancé is the hero of a battle. With fighting nearby, Raina and her mother secure the house. Despite this, a Serbian officer manages to get in through the shutters. Raina hides him and covers when soldiers question her.
Andromache by Jean Racine
Orestes goes to the court of Pyrrhus in Greece on an official assignment from King Menalaus of Sparta to demand that Pyrrhus turn over Astyanax, the Trojan prince. He was saved from death during the war by his mother, Andromache, who is now a slave of Pyrrhus. Although engaged to Hermione, the daughter of Menalaus, Pyrrhus loves Andromache and tries to coerce her into marrying him. Meanwhile, Orestes is in love with Hermione and is considering drastic action to steal her from Pyrrhus.
Love Triangle Plays
The Advertisement by Natalia Ginzburg (3 Acts)
Teresa, who is separated from her husband, rents out a spare room to Elena, a college student. Teresa tells Elena her story, focusing on her childhood and tumultuous relationship with her husband, Lorenzo, including the incident that finally ended things.
Ring Around the Moon (Invitation to the Castle) by Jean Anouilh (3 Acts)
Hugo is a confident, popular man. His identical twin brother, Frederic, is unsure of himself. Frederic fawns over Diana, his fiancee, but she really loves Hugo instead. Frederic is from new money while Diana is from new money, her father being a self-made businessman. Hugo plots to redirect his brother’s attentions.
They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard (3 Acts)
Tony is about sixty years old and has a farmhouse in Napa Valley. He’s on his way to the train station to pick up his bride-to-be, Amy, a young woman he’s been corresponding with. They’re to be married today, although they’ve never met in person. Tony saw her from a distance in San Francisco and managed to get her contact details. Tony’s foreman, Joe, wrote he letters for him because his English is better. There’s an incident involving Tony on his way to the station. Amy also gets a surprise when she arrives.
Burn This by Lanford Wilson (2 Acts)
Anna and Larry have just attended the funeral of their roommate, Robbie. There’s some distance between Anna and her boyfriend, Burton. Robbie’s older brother, Pale, comes by one night drunk and obnoxious.
FOB by David Henry Hwang (2 Acts)
Three Chinese-Americans—first-generation Grace, second-generation Dale, and “fresh-off-the-boat” Steve—have differing attitudes about their identities and how much Chinese-Americans should assimilate with American culture. Dale and Steve are both interested in Grace, who also has issues with the male dominance in both Chinese and American culture.
I’ll keep adding plays about relationships & love as I find more.