Classical monologues, shortest first
Full text, run times, and cut points, so you can pick a speech that fits the slot.
The Offbook team
Oct 8, 2026
Audition notices usually set a time limit, often one to two minutes. Every speech here is timed from its exact text at a conversational 150 words a minute, so you can see at a glance what fits before you spend a week learning it.
All monologues
| Monologue | Play | Words | Run time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macbeth: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” | Macbeth | 90 | 36 seconds |
| Juliet: “’Tis but thy name that is my enemy” (What’s in a name?) | Romeo and Juliet | 93 | 36 seconds |
| Puck: “If we shadows have offended” (Puck’s epilogue) | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 94 | 36 seconds |
| Ophelia: “O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!” | Hamlet | 99 | 42 seconds |
| Lady Macbeth: “The raven himself is hoarse” | Macbeth | 128 | 54 seconds |
| Romeo: “But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?” | Romeo and Juliet | 204 | 1.4 minutes |
| Helena: “How happy some o’er other some can be!” | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 208 | 1.4 minutes |
| Viola: “I left no ring with her” | Twelfth Night | 208 | 1.4 minutes |
| Macbeth: “Is this a dagger which I see before me” | Macbeth | 263 | 1.8 minutes |
| Hamlet: “To be, or not to be” | Hamlet | 276 | 1.8 minutes |
| Titania: “These are the forgeries of jealousy” | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 277 | 1.8 minutes |
| Mercutio: The Queen Mab speech | Romeo and Juliet | 326 | 2.2 minutes |
| Hamlet: “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!” | Hamlet | 454 | 3.0 minutes |
Want the size of a whole part? Line counts for every role.