Major Barbara: every role by lines, words, and stage time

George Bernard Shaw. 18 speaking roles, 25,797 words, about 184 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Undershaft has the most to say in Major Barbara: about 756 lines and 6,321 words, 24.5% of the play. Major Barbara pits a Salvation Army officer against her father, a wealthy arms manufacturer. Undershaft is the largest part, with about a quarter of the words, and speaks in every section. Lady Britomart is second but is absent from Act 2. Barbara and Cusins each hold about a seventh, and Bill speaks only in Act 2.

Speaking roles: 18
Scenes: 4
Words: 25,797
Speech time: 184 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Undershaft	756	6,321	24.5%	45.2	4
Lady Britomart	506	4,304	16.7%	30.7	3
Barbara	463	3,808	14.8%	27.2	4
Cusins	436	3,561	13.8%	25.4	4
Bill	223	1,874	7.3%	13.4	1
Stephen	189	1,487	5.8%	10.6	3
Shirley	115	935	3.6%	6.7	1
Lomax	126	911	3.5%	6.5	3
Mrs. Baines	76	629	2.4%	4.5	1
Price	70	606	2.3%	4.3	1
Jenny	59	396	1.5%	2.8	1
Rummy	47	377	1.5%	2.7	1
The Man	25	225	0.9%	1.6	1
Sarah	35	216	0.8%	1.5	3
Morrison	12	75	0.3%	0.5	2
The Woman	8	39	0.2%	0.3	1
Paige	2	19	0.1%	0.1	1
Bilton	2	14	0.1%	0.1	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	3.2
Undershaft
Lady Britomart
Barbara
Cusins
Bill
Stephen
Shirley
Lomax
Mrs. Baines
Price

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Undershaft: “The worst of crimes. All the other crimes are …”	Act 3, Scene 2	253	26
Barbara: “I should have given you up and married the man…”	Act 3, Scene 2	225	23
Undershaft: “To give arms to all men who offer an honest pr…”	Act 3, Scene 2	200	20
Undershaft: “I don’t. They do. You see, the one thing Jones…”	Act 3	196	20
Lady Britomart: “I said nine. Ring the bell, please. It is ten …”	Act 1	192	20
Undershaft: “The government of your country! I am the gover…”	Act 3	190	19
Undershaft: “Come, come, my daughter! Don’t make too much o…”	Act 3, Scene 2	184	19
Lady Britomart: “Well, dear, there were other differences. I re…”	Act 1	177	18
The Man: “I’ll tell you why. Fust: I’m intelligent—fffff…”	Act 2	163	17
Barbara: “Yesterday I should have said, because I was in…”	Act 3, Scene 2	154	16

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.

Shirley and Lomax
Shirley and Sarah
Shirley and Morrison
Shirley and Bilton
Lomax and Mrs. Baines
Lomax and Price
Lomax and Jenny
Lomax and Rummy
Lomax and The Man
Lomax and The Woman
Lomax and Paige
Mrs. Baines and Sarah

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Major Barbara?

Undershaft, with about 756 lines and 6,321 words, 24.5% of everything spoken in the play. Lady Britomart is next, with about 506 lines (16.7%).

How long is Major Barbara?

The full text has 25,797 spoken words, about 184 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 Major Barbara?

18 named roles speak in this edition, across 4 scenes. 8 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.