Offbook
Play library

How big is your part?

Line counts, word counts, and stage time for every role, computed from the full text of each play.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Cast lists rarely say how much there is to learn. These pages count it: every speaking role, its lines and words, its share of the play, the scenes it speaks in, and its longest speeches, so you can plan rehearsal before the first read-through.

William Shakespeare

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
All’s Well That Ends Well2222,540Helena (15.9%)
Antony and Cleopatra5223,669Antony (25.1%)
As You Like It2721,135Rosalind (26.9%)
The Comedy of Errors1914,351Adriana (14.6%)
Coriolanus5426,546Coriolanus (24.2%)
Cymbeline3726,704Imogen (16.4%)
Edward III3819,294King Edward (30%)
Hamlet3229,557Hamlet (39.1%)
Henry IV, Part I3523,913Falstaff (23%)
Henry IV, Part II4825,392Falstaff (21.6%)
Henry V4525,596King Henry (32.6%)
Henry VI, Part I5520,511Talbot (15.2%)
Henry VI, Part II6324,416York (12.2%)
Henry VI, Part III4223,286Edward (15%)
Henry VIII4322,840King (14.7%)
Julius Caesar4719,083Brutus (28.3%)
King John2720,385Bastard (20%)
King Lear2525,243King Lear (22.3%)
Love’s Labour’s Lost1921,030Biron (22.8%)
Macbeth3716,424Macbeth (32.2%)
Measure for Measure2321,225Duke (30.8%)
The Merchant of Venice2220,855Portia (22.1%)
The Merry Wives of Windsor2321,778Falstaff (17.3%)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream2215,992Bottom (12.7%)
Much Ado About Nothing2320,707Benedick (18%)
Othello2625,835Iago (32.6%)
Pericles4417,456Pericles (26.2%)
Richard II3321,800King Richard (27.5%)
Richard III5428,333Richard (31.5%)
Romeo and Juliet3423,798Romeo (19.6%)
The Taming of the Shrew3620,396Petruchio (22.6%)
The Tempest1915,827Prospero (30.3%)
Timon of Athens5617,735Timon (35.7%)
Titus Andronicus2519,808Titus (28.9%)
Troilus and Cressida2725,263Troilus (15.6%)
Twelfth Night1819,416Sir Toby (13.8%)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona1716,784Proteus (19.4%)
The Winter’s Tale3424,533Leontes (19.8%)

Anton Chekhov

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
The Cherry Orchard1913,486Lopahin (19.2%)
The Seagull1215,221Treplev (19.4%)
Three Sisters1617,351Vershinin (14.1%)
Uncle Vanya1013,913Astrov (28.3%)

William Congreve

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
The Way of the World1725,194Mirabell (16%)

Oliver Goldsmith

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
She Stoops to Conquer2220,313Marlow (19.8%)

Henrik Ibsen

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
A Doll’s House1022,149Nora (44.9%)
Ghosts517,715Mrs. Alving (29.3%)

Christopher Marlowe

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus3311,141Faustus (46.3%)

Molière

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
Tartuffe1115,918Dorine (18.1%)

Luigi Pirandello

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
Six Characters in Search of an Author2414,567The Father (37.4%)

George Bernard Shaw

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
Arms and the Man1014,528Bluntschli (25.7%)
Pygmalion1619,299Higgins (35.5%)
Saint Joan3329,687Joan (21.9%)

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
The School for Scandal2024,495Sir Peter (17.9%)

Sophocles

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
Antigone109,734Creon (26.3%)
Oedipus Rex912,041Oedipus (45.1%)

J. M. Synge

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
The Playboy of the Western World1915,902Christy (26.8%)

John Webster

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
The Duchess of Malfi3223,009Bosola (25.1%)

Oscar Wilde

PlayRolesWordsLargest role
An Ideal Husband1524,328Lord Goring (25%)
The Importance of Being Earnest917,746Jack (22.4%)
Lady Windermere’s Fan1615,938Lady Windermere (23.8%)

Roles actors ask about

Looking for a speech to perform? 13 classical monologues with run times.