Monologues from the modern classics: Chekhov, Shaw, and Wilde

Prose speeches from plays written between the 1880s and the 1920s, timed from the exact text, each with a guide to every sentence.

The Offbook team

Nov 11, 2026

Not every classical audition wants Shakespeare. Many notices ask for a “modern classical” or “contemporary classical” piece: a speech from the realist plays that began with Ibsen and Chekhov. These are written in prose and played as everyday speech, but they are free to use, because the plays and the translations here are in the public domain.

Each page has the full text, numbered by sentence, its run time, where to cut it, and a guide that explains what is going on in the scene, beat by beat. A newer translation of the same play may be under copyright, so use the text on the page if you need a public domain version.

The monologues, shortest first

Listed here: speeches from plays by the modern realists, from Ibsen and Chekhov to Shaw and Wilde, all written between 1879 and 1923. Chekhov’s plays are in Constance Garnett’s translations. Older speeches are on the full list.

Monologue	Play	Lines	Run time
Sonya: “We shall rest” (Sonya’s last speech)	Uncle Vanya	7	1.0 minutes
Lopahin: “I have bought it!” (Lopahin’s speech)	The Cherry Orchard	31	1.9 minutes
Joan: “You promised me my life; but you lied”	Saint Joan	9	1.9 minutes
Nina: “I am a seagull” (Nina’s last-act speech)	The Seagull	29	2.1 minutes
Ivanov: “I am a bad, abject, worthless man” (Ivanov’s soliloquy)	Ivanov	25	2.2 minutes
Mrs. Erlynne: “Believe what you choose about me”	Lady Windermere’s Fan	26	2.5 minutes

Run times are the words of each speech at a conversational 150 words a minute, before pauses, counted from the full text of public domain editions from Standard Ebooks. To time your own pace, paste a speech into the monologue timer.

How to choose one for an audition

Start with the time limit in the casting notice. Pick a speech that runs a little under it at a natural pace, so you never have to rush the end.
Choose a character you could be cast as now, close to your age and in a situation you understand.
Look for a turn: a moment where the character changes their mind or makes a decision. A speech that only describes gives you nothing to play.
Know who you are talking to. A speech aimed at another character, or straight at the audience, gives you someone to change.
If the notice asks for two pieces, pair contrasting ones; see how to choose contrasting monologues. Need it shorter? Read how to cut a monologue.

About each speech

Sonya: “We shall rest” (Sonya’s last speech)

Uncle Vanya, Act 4 · Prose · about 1.0 minutes at 150 words a minute

After everyone has left, Sonya comforts her uncle at the accounts table with the play’s last words: they will work, endure, and one day rest. It is short and quiet, and the challenge is keeping it from turning sweet, because her own heart has just been broken too.

Lopahin: “I have bought it!” (Lopahin’s speech)

The Cherry Orchard, Act 3 · Prose · about 1.9 minutes at 150 words a minute

Back from the auction, Lopahin, the son of a peasant, announces that he has bought the cherry orchard where his father and grandfather were serfs, while its owner, Lyubov, stands crushed beside him. In under two minutes of prose he swings from embarrassment to giddy triumph to calling for the band, so the challenge is to keep the joy, the shame and the cruelty all alive at once.

Joan: “You promised me my life; but you lied”

Saint Joan, Scene 6 · Prose · about 1.9 minutes at 150 words a minute

At her trial, Joan learns that the confession she has just signed buys her life in prison, not freedom; she tears it up and tells her judges why she would rather burn. It is a fierce prose speech that climbs through two long lists to a verdict that seals her death.

Nina: “I am a seagull” (Nina’s last-act speech)

The Seagull, Act 4 · Prose · about 2.1 minutes at 150 words a minute

Two years after running off to become an actress, Nina visits Konstantin on a stormy night and tries to tell him who she has become, swinging between the ruined “seagull” and the working actress. It is full of broken-off phrases, so the challenge is giving every fragment its own thought on the way to her hard-won faith.

Ivanov: “I am a bad, abject, worthless man” (Ivanov’s soliloquy)

Ivanov, Act 3 · Prose · about 2.2 minutes at 150 words a minute

Alone in his study, Ivanov turns on himself: the man he was a year ago, the wreck he is now, and the dying wife he no longer loves. The full soliloquy runs about three minutes, so this page ends at “It’s shameful, shameful!”, where Chekhov marks a pause, for a piece of a little over two minutes.

Mrs. Erlynne: “Believe what you choose about me”

Lady Windermere’s Fan, Act 3 · Prose · about 2.5 minutes at 150 words a minute

In Lord Darlington’s rooms, Mrs. Erlynne begs Lady Windermere to go home to her husband and child, without revealing that she is Lady Windermere’s mother. It is a serious, emotional prose speech in a comedy. This page ends it at “your place is with your child,” just before her cry when Lady Windermere breaks down, and it still runs about two and a half minutes.

More monologue lists

Questions actors ask

What is the shortest modern classical monologue on this list?

Sonya’s We shall rest (Sonya’s last speech) (Uncle Vanya, Act 4): 7 lines and 145 words, about 1.0 minutes at 150 words a minute. The longest is Mrs. Erlynne’s Believe what you choose about me (Lady Windermere’s Fan, Act 3), about 2.5 minutes.

Which modern classical monologues run a minute or less?

Sonya’s We shall rest (Sonya’s last speech) (about 1.0 minutes). Times are speech only, so add a few seconds for pauses and check the casting notice for its limit.

Are Chekhov monologues in the public domain?

Chekhov’s plays are, and so are Constance Garnett’s English translations, which are the ones used here. A recent translation of the same play is a new text and may still be under copyright, so check before you perform from one.