The Split Summer Festival is not primarily a music festival, as has been frequently claimed by many, including theatrical critics, but to the same extent a festival of drama.

The drama repertoire has widely ranged from the ancient tragedy and major playwrights of the antiquity, such as Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, to many outstanding contemporary writers. Many works by major European classics have been performed, ranging from Shakespeare and Goldoni to Sartre, Pirandello, Ionesco and Moravia. Standard Croatian authors have also been represented: among others, plays by Marin Držić, Miroslav Krleža, Ranko Marinković, Slobodan Novak, Marijan Matković and Ivo Brešan have been performed.

It should be mentioned that Shakespeare has been the most frequently performed author in the entire drama repertoire: as many as fifteen plays have been produced. A number of authors belonging to the Croatian cultural heritage have been included, which has offered ample opportunity of affirming and reassessing their literary and dramatic value.