Man and Superman: every role by lines, words, and stage time

George Bernard Shaw. 34 speaking roles, 43,842 words, about 313 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Tanner has the most to say in Man and Superman: about 1,234 lines and 10,613 words, 24.2% of the play. Man and Superman is Shaw’s comedy about a revolutionary bachelor pursued by a determined young woman, with a long dream scene in hell in Act 3. Tanner has about a quarter of the words. Don Juan, who speaks only in Act 3, has another fifth; when one actor plays both, as is traditional, the part is enormous.

Speaking roles: 34
Scenes: 4
Words: 43,842
Speech time: 313 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Tanner	1,234	10,613	24.2%	75.8	4
Don Juan	965	8,934	20.4%	63.8	1
The Devil	379	3,498	8%	25.0	1
Ann	441	3,489	8%	24.9	4
Ramsden	296	2,470	5.6%	17.6	4
Octavius	304	2,279	5.2%	16.3	4
Mendoza	262	2,189	5%	15.6	2
The Statue	218	1,803	4.1%	12.9	1
Violet	186	1,468	3.3%	10.5	4
Malone	165	1,350	3.1%	9.6	1
Straker	164	1,249	2.8%	8.9	3
Hector	137	1,172	2.7%	8.4	3
Ana	137	1,039	2.4%	7.4	1
Mrs. Whitefield	114	968	2.2%	6.9	3
The Old Woman	64	486	1.1%	3.5	1
Miss Ramsden	30	237	0.5%	1.7	1
The Chauffeur	22	170	0.4%	1.2	1
The Anarchist	15	103	0.2%	0.7	1
The Chief	7	62	0.1%	0.4	1
Duval	9	47	0.1%	0.3	1
The Maid	7	46	0.1%	0.3	1
The Rowdy Social-Democrat	8	46	0.1%	0.3	1
The Sulky Social-Democrat	8	39	0.1%	0.3	1
The Rowdy One	4	26	0.1%	0.2	1
Tavy	3	22	0.1%	0.2	1
The Sulky One	2	12	0%	0.1	1
The Legs	2	7	0%	0.1	1
The Officer	1	7	0%	0.1	1
The English Social-Democrats	1	2	0%	0.0	1
The Genuinely English Brigands	1	2	0%	0.0	1
The Goatherd	1	2	0%	0.0	1
The Majority	1	2	0%	0.0	1
The Social-Democrats	1	2	0%	0.0	1
The Frenchman	1	1	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
Tanner
Don Juan
The Devil
Ann
Ramsden
Octavius
Mendoza
The Statue
Violet
Malone
Straker
Hector
Ana
Mrs. Whitefield

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
The Devil: “And is Man any the less destroying himself for…”	Act 3	920	92
Don Juan: “On the contrary, here I have everything that d…”	Act 3	395	40
Tanner: “Quite unscrupulous. The true artist will let h…”	Act 1	348	35
Don Juan: “Commander: I do not mean the military man. Whe…”	Act 3	306	31
Don Juan: “I learnt it by experience. When I was on Earth…”	Act 3	296	30
Don Juan: “Then you must stay here; for Hell is the home …”	Act 3	285	29
The Devil: “Well, well, go your way, Señor Don Juan. I pre…”	Act 3	272	28
Don Juan: “Pardon me, Ana: I said nothing about a woman’s…”	Act 3	259	26
Ramsden: “For goodness’ sake, don’t call him Jack under …”	Act 1	258	26
The Devil: “Dear lady: a parable must not be taken literal…”	Act 3	258	26

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 Statue and Malone
The Statue and Mrs. Whitefield
The Statue and Miss Ramsden
The Statue and The Chauffeur
The Statue and The Maid
The Statue and Tavy
The Statue and The Legs
Malone and Ana
Malone and The Old Woman
Malone and Miss Ramsden
Malone and The Chauffeur
Malone and The Anarchist

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Man and Superman?

Tanner, with about 1,234 lines and 10,613 words, 24.2% of everything spoken in the play. Don Juan is next, with about 965 lines (20.4%).

How long is Man and Superman?

The full text has 43,842 spoken words, about 313 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 Man and Superman?

34 named roles speak in this edition, across 4 scenes. 20 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.