# Scenes for two men: free acting scripts, shortest first

> Two-person scenes carried by two men characters, from the plays in the library, each with the setup and the run time.

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/acting-scripts/two-men
- Last updated: 2026-11-11

These are scenes between two men: friends who fall out, a liar working on the man who trusts him, a scholar bargaining with a devil, and two young men in London trading lies about their double lives. Most are dramas, because that is what the classic repertoire holds, but there are comedies too, from Prince Hal and Falstaff to Jack and Algernon.

Every scene comes from a play in the public domain, so the text is free to read, copy, and perform. Each entry has what is going on, where it sits in the play, how many words each part has, and how long it runs out loud.

## The scenes, shortest first

Listed here: two-person scenes where both characters who carry the scene are men as the play writes them. When someone else speaks once in the scene, the entry says so.

| Scene | Characters | Run time |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Palamon and Arcite fall out (The Two Noble Kinsmen) | Arcite, Palamon | 4.2 minutes |
| The green-eyed monster (Othello) | Iago, Othello | 5.0 minutes |
| Doctor Lvov accuses Ivanov (Ivanov) | Lvov, Ivanov | 5.6 minutes |
| Faustus conjures Mephistopheles (The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus) | Faustus, Mephistopheles | 5.9 minutes |
| Put money in thy purse (Othello) | Iago, Roderigo | 6.2 minutes |
| Brutus and Cassius quarrel (Julius Caesar) | Brutus, Cassius | 7.0 minutes |
| Prince Hal and Falstaff (Henry IV, Part I) | Falstaff, Prince | 7.2 minutes |
| Edmund and the forged letter (King Lear) | Edmund, Gloucester | 8.0 minutes |
| Jack, Algernon, and the cigarette case (The Importance of Being Earnest) | Algernon, Jack | 8.3 minutes |

A two-person scene here is one that two characters carry; when someone else speaks once, the entry says so. Times are spoken words at 140 words a minute, stage directions removed, the same method as the [play library](https://www.offbook.com/plays).

### Palamon and Arcite fall out

[The Two Noble Kinsmen](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-two-noble-kinsmen), William Shakespeare and John Fletcher. Act 2, Scene 2.

The two cousins are prisoners of war, and have just sworn that their friendship will outlast anything. Then both see Emilia walking in the garden below their window, and each claims her for himself.

- Characters: Arcite and Palamon
- Length: about 4.2 minutes, 592 words
- Words per part: Arcite 319, Palamon 273
- Starts: Palamon: “What think you of this beauty?”
- Ends: Palamon: “… I shall live / To knock thy brains out with my shackles.”

[Free text of the play](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare_john-fletcher/the-two-noble-kinsmen)

### The green-eyed monster

[Othello](https://www.offbook.com/plays/othello), William Shakespeare. Act 3, Scene 3.

Desdemona has just left Othello after pleading for the disgraced Cassio. Alone with his general, Iago starts to work: a question about Cassio, a hesitation, a refusal to say what he thinks, and a warning to beware of jealousy.

- Characters: Iago and Othello
- Length: about 5.0 minutes, 697 words
- Words per part: Iago 398, Othello 299
- Starts: Othello: “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, / But I do love thee! …”
- Ends: Iago: “… Good heaven, the souls of all my tribe defend / From jealousy!”

[Free text of the play](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/othello) · [Othello’s part](https://www.offbook.com/plays/othello/othello) · [Iago’s part](https://www.offbook.com/plays/othello/iago)

### Doctor Lvov accuses Ivanov

[Ivanov](https://www.offbook.com/plays/ivanov), Anton Chekhov, translated by Constance Garnett. Act 3.

Lvov, the young doctor treating Ivanov’s dying wife, has come to say what he thinks: that Ivanov is killing her and is after the rich Sasha’s money. Ivanov, worn out with himself, asks him what he is supposed to do.

- Characters: Lvov and Ivanov
- Length: about 5.6 minutes, 782 words
- Words per part: Lvov 407, Ivanov 375
- Starts: Lvov: “I must have things out with you, Nikolay Alexeyevitch.”
- Ends: Lvov: “Oh, have you? Now I trust we quite understand each other!”

[Free text of the play](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/anton-chekhov/ivanov/constance-garnett)

### Faustus conjures Mephistopheles

[The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-tragical-history-of-doctor-faustus), Christopher Marlowe. Scene 3.

Alone at night, the scholar Faustus raises a devil, Mephistopheles. He wants a servant; Mephistopheles tells him what hell is like, and Faustus sends him back to Lucifer with an offer: his soul, for twenty-four years of having whatever he wants.

- Characters: Faustus and Mephistopheles
- Length: about 5.9 minutes, 825 words
- Words per part: Faustus 608, Mephistopheles 217
- Starts: Faustus: “Now that the gloomy shadow of the earth Longing to view Orion’s …”
- Ends: Faustus: “… desired, I’ll live in speculation of this art, Till Mephistopheles return again.”

[Free text of the play](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/christopher-marlowe/the-tragical-history-of-doctor-faustus)

### Put money in thy purse

[Othello](https://www.offbook.com/plays/othello), William Shakespeare. Act 1, Scene 3.

Desdemona has married Othello, and Roderigo, who wanted her, says he will drown himself. Iago talks him out of it: sell your land, follow her to Cyprus, and put money in your purse. Alone, Iago starts to plan.

- Characters: Iago and Roderigo
- Length: about 6.2 minutes, 861 words
- Words per part: Iago 762, Roderigo 99
- Starts: Roderigo: “Iago—”
- Ends: Iago: “… and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.”

[Free text of the play](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/othello) · [Iago’s part](https://www.offbook.com/plays/othello/iago)

### Brutus and Cassius quarrel

[Julius Caesar](https://www.offbook.com/plays/julius-caesar), William Shakespeare. Act 4, Scene 3.

The two leaders of the plot against Caesar now lead armies against Antony. In Brutus’s tent, Brutus accuses Cassius of taking bribes and Cassius says Brutus has wronged him, until they make peace.

- Characters: Brutus and Cassius
- Length: about 7.0 minutes, 978 words
- Words per part: Brutus 558, Cassius 420
- Starts: Cassius: “That you have wrong’d me doth appear in this: / You have …”
- Ends: Brutus: “… your Brutus, / He’ll think your mother chides, and leave you so.”

[Free text of the play](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/julius-caesar) · [Brutus’s part](https://www.offbook.com/plays/julius-caesar/brutus) · [Cassius’s part](https://www.offbook.com/plays/julius-caesar/cassius)

### Prince Hal and Falstaff

[Henry IV, Part I](https://www.offbook.com/plays/henry-iv-part-i), William Shakespeare. Act 1, Scene 2.

The king’s son, Prince Hal, spends his days in taverns with the old knight Falstaff. They trade insults about drink, thieving, and the gallows, and Falstaff wants to know how a thief will fare when Hal is king.

- Characters: Falstaff and Prince, with one speech for Poins
- Length: about 7.2 minutes, 1,009 words
- Words per part: Falstaff 590, Prince 377
- Starts: Falstaff: “Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?”
- Ends: Prince: “… yet a breaker of proverbs: he will give the devil his due.”

[Free text of the play](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/henry-iv-part-i) · [Falstaff’s part](https://www.offbook.com/plays/henry-iv-part-i/falstaff)

### Edmund and the forged letter

[King Lear](https://www.offbook.com/plays/king-lear), William Shakespeare. Act 1, Scene 2.

Edmund, Gloucester’s illegitimate son, has forged a letter in his brother Edgar’s hand. He lets his father catch him hiding it, and by the end Gloucester believes his loyal son is plotting to kill him.

- Characters: Edmund and Gloucester
- Length: about 8.0 minutes, 1,118 words
- Words per part: Edmund 676, Gloucester 442
- Starts: Edmund: “Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law / My services are …”
- Ends: Edmund: “… Bedlam. O, these eclipses do portend these divisions! fa, sol, la, mi.”

[Free text of the play](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/king-lear) · [Edmund’s monologue, “Thou, nature, art my goddess”](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/thou-nature-art-my-goddess)

### Jack, Algernon, and the cigarette case

[The Importance of Being Earnest](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-importance-of-being-earnest), Oscar Wilde. Act 1.

Algernon has found Jack’s cigarette case, inscribed “From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack.” Jack, who goes by Ernest in town, has to explain who Cecily is, and Algernon explains Bunburying.

- Characters: Algernon and Jack
- Length: about 8.3 minutes, 1,159 words
- Words per part: Algernon 640, Jack 519
- Starts: Jack: “Do you mean to say you have had my cigarette case all …”
- Ends: Algernon: “… have been really engaged to Aunt Augusta for more than a week.”

[Free text of the play](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/oscar-wilde/the-importance-of-being-earnest)

## Practice it out loud

A scene only comes alive when the other part answers you. If you do not have a scene partner tonight, upload the scene to Offbook as a PDF or text file and pick your role: realistic voices read every other part, and it listens through your microphone and plays the next cue when you finish your line.

You can hide your own lines as you learn them, or show only the first letters of each word. Want classical speeches instead? See the [monologues with run times](https://www.offbook.com/monologues).

For more on rehearsing without a partner, read [how to rehearse a scene alone](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-rehearse-a-scene-alone) and [how to prepare a scene for acting class](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-prepare-a-scene-for-acting-class).

## More scenes

- [Scenes for two women](https://www.offbook.com/acting-scripts/two-women)
- [Scenes for teens](https://www.offbook.com/acting-scripts/for-teens)
- [Every scene in the library: comedy, drama, and group scenes](https://www.offbook.com/acting-scripts)
- [Monologues with run times and line-by-line guides](https://www.offbook.com/monologues)

## Questions actors ask

### What is the shortest scene on this list?

Palamon and Arcite fall out (The Two Noble Kinsmen, Act 2, Scene 2), about 4.2 minutes of spoken text. The longest is Jack, Algernon, and the cigarette case (The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 1), about 8.3 minutes. Pauses, movement, and reactions add time to the spoken words.

### What is a good comedy scene for two men?

Jack and Algernon with the cigarette case from The Importance of Being Earnest is the classic one: fast prose, two equal parts, and jokes that only land with tight timing. Prince Hal and Falstaff from Henry IV, Part 1 is the Shakespeare choice, in prose too.

### Which of these scenes is best for a classical audition or showcase?

Brutus and Cassius, Iago and Othello, and Edmund and Gloucester all give both actors something to play, in verse and prose that panels know well. For a scene with a clear arc in under five minutes, try Palamon and Arcite from The Two Noble Kinsmen, a play that is rarely staged.