He Who Gets Slapped: every role by lines, words, and stage time

Leonid Andreyev, translated by Gregory Zilboorg. 25 speaking roles, 18,242 words, about 130 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

He has the most to say in He Who Gets Slapped: about 587 lines and 4,608 words, 25.3% of the play. Andreyev’s drama follows a mysterious gentleman who joins a circus as a clown whose act is being slapped. He holds about a quarter of the words, with Mancini nearly level at 23%. Consuelo is the third major part at about 15%, and all three speak in every act.

Speaking roles: 25
Scenes: 4
Words: 18,242
Speech time: 130 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
He	587	4,608	25.3%	32.9	4
Mancini	492	4,196	23%	30.0	4
Consuelo	347	2,709	14.9%	19.4	4
Briquet	216	1,645	9%	11.8	4
Zinida	174	1,292	7.1%	9.2	3
Gentleman	159	1,249	6.8%	8.9	3
Jackson	83	684	3.7%	4.9	3
Bezano	65	506	2.8%	3.6	4
Baron	61	426	2.3%	3.0	3
Polly	33	238	1.3%	1.7	4
Tilly	22	151	0.8%	1.1	4
Henry	17	134	0.7%	1.0	1
The Conductor	8	69	0.4%	0.5	1
Angelica	8	63	0.3%	0.5	1
The Second	8	51	0.3%	0.4	1
Athlete	6	40	0.2%	0.3	1
Voices	5	39	0.2%	0.3	2
The Shaven	5	36	0.2%	0.3	1
The Usher	4	29	0.2%	0.2	1
Thomas	5	28	0.2%	0.2	1
The Bareback Rider	2	19	0.1%	0.1	1
The Clean-shaven One	2	13	0.1%	0.1	1
First Actress	1	10	0.1%	0.1	1
A Voice	1	5	0%	0.0	1
Actress	1	2	0%	0.0	1

Who speaks in which scene

Darker cells mean more words in that scene. Use it to plan rehearsal calls, or to see how long an actor waits between entrances.

Role	Act 1	Act 2	Act 3	Act 4
He
Mancini
Consuelo
Briquet
Zinida
Gentleman
Jackson
Bezano
Baron

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
He: “But why? Explain it to me. You say yourself th…”	Act 3	271	28
Gentleman: “Sit down here. Thank you. I am respected and I…”	Act 3	142	15
He: “Don’t be angry, Jim. It’s a play, don’t you un…”	Act 2	137	14
Mancini: “Do you know what blood flows in the veins of a…”	Act 2	125	13
Mancini: “In jail? Oh, no! Why, I have to uphold our nam…”	Act 1	111	12
He: “Don’t laugh, Consuelo, at the voice of the sta…”	Act 2	110	11
He: “But you know the Baron? Listen. It is painful …”	Act 3	109	11
Gentleman: “I don’t know. … But such language! I confess I…”	Act 3	107	11
Mancini: “Oh! Go to the devil! When I listen to your asi…”	Act 1	105	11
Mancini: “Prison! Mustn’t I uphold the glory of my name …”	Act 2	104	11

Small roles that can be doubled

These pairs of small roles never speak in the same scene, so one actor could play both. Check entrances and silent appearances in your script before you cast it this way.

Baron and Athlete
Baron and First Actress
Baron and Actress
Henry and Athlete
Henry and The Usher
Henry and The Bareback Rider
Henry and First Actress
Henry and A Voice
Henry and Actress
The Conductor and Athlete
The Conductor and The Usher
The Conductor and The Bareback Rider

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in He Who Gets Slapped?

He, with about 587 lines and 4,608 words, 25.3% of everything spoken in the play. Mancini is next, with about 492 lines (23%).

How long is He Who Gets Slapped?

The full text has 18,242 spoken words, about 130 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 He Who Gets Slapped?

25 named roles speak in this edition, across 4 scenes. 16 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.