Getting Married: every role by lines, words, and stage time

George Bernard Shaw. 16 speaking roles, 26,071 words, about 186 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Hotchkiss has the most to say in Getting Married: about 511 lines and 4,349 words, 16.7% of the play. Getting Married is Shaw’s one-act debate comedy about marriage, set on a wedding day when the couple begins to doubt the whole idea. It runs as one continuous scene, so the cast stays on stage together for long stretches. Hotchkiss has the most words, about a sixth, and the load is shared widely among The Bishop, Mrs. George, Collins, and The General.

Speaking roles: 16
Scenes: Continuous
Words: 26,071
Speech time: 186 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Hotchkiss	511	4,349	16.7%	31.1	1
The Bishop	404	3,331	12.8%	23.8	1
Mrs. George	374	3,048	11.7%	21.8	1
Collins	331	2,971	11.4%	21.2	1
The General	332	2,701	10.4%	19.3	1
Reginald	241	1,968	7.5%	14.1	1
Lesbia	241	1,926	7.4%	13.8	1
Edith	156	1,321	5.1%	9.4	1
Leo	163	1,318	5.1%	9.4	1
Soames	141	1,086	4.2%	7.8	1
Mrs. Bridgenorth	143	1,006	3.9%	7.2	1
Sykes	114	982	3.8%	7.0	1
The Voice Of The Beadle	3	30	0.1%	0.2	1
The Beadle	3	28	0.1%	0.2	1
Tie General	1	5	0%	0.0	1
All The Rest	1	1	0%	0.0	1

The longest speeches

Speech	Words	Lines
Hotchkiss: “My dear Anthony: I find you merely ridiculous …”	287	29
Hotchkiss: “At that, yes. But there was something worse. J…”	262	27
Mrs. George: “When you loved me I gave you the whole sun and…”	246	25
Hotchkiss: “How kind of you to say so, General! You’re qui…”	245	25
Sykes: “Yes; but I didn’t know that when we were marri…”	243	25
The Bishop: “I am speaking technically, not in Boxer’s mann…”	234	24
Collins: “Oh yes, ma’am, yes: very often. But when it ca…”	218	22
Reginald: “A nice way of showing your fondness! I had to …”	211	22
Reginald: “It’s no use: they won’t listen to our sort. Of…”	210	21
Collins: “Well, many ladies with a domestic turn thought…”	193	20

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Getting Married?

Hotchkiss, with about 511 lines and 4,349 words, 16.7% of everything spoken in the play. The Bishop is next, with about 404 lines (12.8%).

How long is Getting Married?

The full text has 26,071 spoken words, about 186 minutes at 140 words a minute before pauses, scene changes, and cuts. Most productions cut the text, so running times vary.

How many speaking roles are in Getting Married?

16 named roles speak in this edition, in one continuous text with no scene breaks. 4 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.