Short monologues: one minute or less

Complete speeches that fit a 60-second slot, timed from the exact text, each with a guide to every line.

The Offbook team

Nov 11, 2026

Many audition notices ask for a one-minute monologue, and a panel would rather hear a short speech played fully than a long one rushed. Every speech here runs a minute or less at a conversational pace, so you have room to breathe, pause, and land the ending.

A short speech still needs a turn: a moment where the character changes their mind or makes a decision. Each page explains every line in plain English and marks where the thought shifts, so a few lines can carry a whole story.

The monologues, shortest first

Listed here: complete speeches whose words run one minute or less at 150 words a minute. Your pace may be slower, so time yourself with the monologue timer. Longer speeches with a 60-second cut point are on the full list.

Monologue	Play	Lines	Run time
Macbeth: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”	Macbeth	12	36 seconds
Juliet: “’Tis but thy name that is my enemy” (What’s in a name?)	Romeo and Juliet	12	36 seconds
Puck: “If we shadows have offended” (Puck’s epilogue)	A Midsummer Night’s Dream	16	36 seconds
Ophelia: “O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!”	Hamlet	12	42 seconds
Constance: “Grief fills the room up of my absent child”	King John	13	42 seconds
Miranda: “If by your art, my dearest father”	The Tempest	13	42 seconds
Helena: “Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie”	All’s Well That Ends Well	14	48 seconds
Prospero: “Our revels now are ended”	The Tempest	16	48 seconds
Lady Macbeth: “The raven himself is hoarse”	Macbeth	17	54 seconds
Isabella: “To whom should I complain?”	Measure for Measure	17	54 seconds
Sonya: “We shall rest” (Sonya’s last speech)	Uncle Vanya	7	1.0 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

Macbeth: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”

Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5 · Verse · about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute

Macbeth hears that his wife is dead and sees his whole life as meaningless. It is short, about a dozen lines, so every word has to carry weight.

Juliet: “’Tis but thy name that is my enemy” (What’s in a name?)

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2 · Verse · about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute

Juliet, alone on the balcony, argues that a name is only a word. Romeo is listening, but she does not know it. It is short, which makes it a good first classical piece.

Puck: “If we shadows have offended” (Puck’s epilogue)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1 · Verse · about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute

Puck closes the play and asks the audience to forgive it as a dream. It is short, rhymed, and spoken straight to the house.

Ophelia: “O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!”

Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1 · Verse · about 42 seconds at 150 words a minute

Ophelia, left alone after Hamlet’s attack in the nunnery scene, mourns the man he was. It is short and complete in itself, which makes it a common classical audition piece.

Constance: “Grief fills the room up of my absent child”

King John, Act 3, Scene 4 · Verse · about 42 seconds at 150 words a minute

Constance, whose young son Arthur has been captured by his uncle King John, answers the King of France’s charge that she is as fond of grief as of her child. It is short, plain, and devastating, with grief pictured as a person filling Arthur’s empty room, and it needs real control to keep it from turning into general weeping.

Miranda: “If by your art, my dearest father”

The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2 · Verse · about 42 seconds at 150 words a minute

In her first speech, Miranda has just watched a ship break apart in the storm and begs her father to calm the sea if his magic raised it. It is short and direct, under a minute, which makes it a good first Shakespeare piece for younger actors.

Helena: “Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie”

All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 1, Scene 1 · Verse · about 48 seconds at 150 words a minute

Helena, a doctor’s orphaned daughter in love with the far higher-born Bertram, talks herself out of despair and into a plan: to cure the dying King of France. It is short and written in rhyming couplets, and its challenge is the turn from hopeless longing to fixed resolve inside fourteen lines.

Prospero: “Our revels now are ended”

The Tempest, Act 4, Scene 1 · Verse · about 48 seconds at 150 words a minute

Prospero breaks off the magical show he staged for Miranda and Ferdinand when he remembers a plot against his life, then tells the shaken young man that everything, the whole world included, will fade like the vision. It is under a minute long, and the famous lines about dreams sit between real anger and an old man’s apology, which is what keeps them from becoming a recital.

Lady Macbeth: “The raven himself is hoarse”

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5 · Verse · about 54 seconds at 150 words a minute

Lady Macbeth hears that Duncan will stay the night and calls on dark spirits to strip away her pity. It is short and intense, and one of the most requested classical pieces for women.

Isabella: “To whom should I complain?”

Measure for Measure, Act 2, Scene 4 · Verse · about 54 seconds at 150 words a minute

Isabella, alone after Angelo offers to spare her brother’s life in exchange for her body, realizes no one will believe her word against his and decides that Claudio must die rather than she give in. It is short and fierce, and its hardest line, “More than our brother is our chastity,” asks the actor to believe completely in a terrible choice.

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.

More monologue lists

Questions actors ask

What is the shortest short monologue on this list?

Macbeth’s Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow (Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5): 12 lines and 90 words, about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute. The longest is Sonya’s We shall rest (Sonya’s last speech) (Uncle Vanya, Act 4), about 1.0 minutes.

Which short monologues run a minute or less?

Macbeth’s Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow (about 36 seconds); Juliet’s ’Tis but thy name that is my enemy (What’s in a name?) (about 36 seconds); Puck’s If we shadows have offended (Puck’s epilogue) (about 36 seconds); Ophelia’s O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown! (about 42 seconds); Constance’s Grief fills the room up of my absent child (about 42 seconds); Miranda’s If by your art, my dearest father (about 42 seconds); Helena’s Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie (about 48 seconds); Prospero’s Our revels now are ended (about 48 seconds); Lady Macbeth’s The raven himself is hoarse (about 54 seconds); Isabella’s To whom should I complain? (about 54 seconds); 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.

How long is a one-minute monologue?

About 130 to 170 words, depending on how fast the character speaks and how many pauses you take. Every speech on this list is about 150 words or fewer, so it fits a one-minute slot without rushing.