Heartbreak House: every role by lines, words, and stage time

George Bernard Shaw. 27 speaking roles, 26,316 words, about 188 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Ellie has the most to say in Heartbreak House: about 610 lines and 4,943 words, 18.8% of the play. Heartbreak House is Shaw’s comedy of a strange English country house and its guests on the eve of war. Ellie has the largest part, close to a fifth of the words, with Mrs. Hushabye close behind. Lady Utterword, Captain Shotover, and Mangan each hold about a tenth, and all eight largest roles speak in every act.

Speaking roles: 27
Scenes: 3
Words: 26,316
Speech time: 188 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Ellie	610	4,943	18.8%	35.3	3
Mrs. Hushabye	554	4,414	16.8%	31.5	3
Lady Utterword	383	3,104	11.8%	22.2	3
Captain Shotover	367	2,960	11.2%	21.1	3
Mangan	346	2,840	10.8%	20.3	3
Hector	308	2,374	9%	17.0	3
Mazzini	255	2,119	8.1%	15.1	3
Randall	119	933	3.5%	6.7	3
The Burglar	87	749	2.8%	5.4	2
The Captain	78	674	2.6%	4.8	1
Nurse Guinness	48	399	1.5%	2.9	2
Guinness	32	257	1%	1.8	1
The Gentleman	19	138	0.5%	1.0	1
The Young Lady	12	92	0.3%	0.7	1
The Man	8	72	0.3%	0.5	1
The Womanservant	9	71	0.3%	0.5	1
Nurse	5	40	0.2%	0.3	1
Dunn	3	29	0.1%	0.2	1
Mrs. Hubhabye	3	22	0.1%	0.2	1
A Woman’s Voice	2	15	0.1%	0.1	1
Ladt Utterword	2	14	0.1%	0.1	1
Mrs. Hushaye	1	10	0%	0.1	1
Lady Utterorrd	1	8	0%	0.1	1
Mrs. Husahbye	1	6	0%	0.0	1
Mazzini’s Voice	1	4	0%	0.0	1
Mrs. Husharye	1	3	0%	0.0	1
The Captain’s Voice	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
Ellie
Mrs. Hushabye
Lady Utterword
Captain Shotover
Mangan
Hector
Mazzini
Randall
The Burglar
The Captain

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Mangan: “Of course you don’t understand: what do you kn…”	Act 2	444	45
Lady Utterword: “I know what you must feel. Oh, this house, thi…”	Act 1	277	28
Captain Shotover: “A man’s interest in the world is only the over…”	Act 2	252	26
Captain Shotover: “No: I dread being drunk more than anything in …”	Act 2	182	19
Mangan: “Wake up! So you think I’ve been asleep, do you…”	Act 2	164	17
Mazzini: “No: I’m no good at making money. I don’t care …”	Act 2	150	15
Lady Utterword: “Yes: horses. Why have we never been able to le…”	Act 3	143	15
Lady Utterword: “Why is Randall such an obvious rotter? He is w…”	Act 3	140	14
Ellie: “I suppose you think you’re being sympathetic. …”	Act 2	127	13
Ellie: “Oh, that was years after, quite lately. He too…”	Act 1	124	13

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.

The Burglar and The Captain
The Burglar and The Gentleman
The Burglar and The Young Lady
The Burglar and The Man
The Burglar and The Womanservant
The Burglar and Nurse
The Burglar and Dunn
The Burglar and Mrs. Hubhabye
The Burglar and A Woman’s Voice
The Burglar and Ladt Utterword
The Burglar and Mrs. Hushaye
The Burglar and Lady Utterorrd

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Heartbreak House?

Ellie, with about 610 lines and 4,943 words, 18.8% of everything spoken in the play. Mrs. Hushabye is next, with about 554 lines (16.8%).

How long is Heartbreak House?

The full text has 26,316 spoken words, about 188 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 Heartbreak House?

27 named roles speak in this edition, across 3 scenes. 17 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.