The Hairy Ape: every role by lines, words, and stage time

Eugene O’Neill. 15 speaking roles, 9,463 words, about 68 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Yank has the most to say in The Hairy Ape: about 560 lines and 5,129 words, 54.2% of the play. The Hairy Ape follows Yank, a ship’s stoker whose sense of belonging is shattered by one encounter with a rich young woman. Yank carries more than half of all the words and speaks in every scene but Scene 2. Paddy is the next largest part at about an eighth, and Mildred speaks only in Scenes 2 and 3.

Speaking roles: 15
Scenes: 8
Words: 9,463
Speech time: 68 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Yank	560	5,129	54.2%	36.6	7
Paddy	125	1,148	12.1%	8.2	3
Long	86	756	8%	5.4	3
Mildred	81	662	7%	4.7	2
Voice	60	521	5.5%	3.7	3
Secretary	66	518	5.5%	3.7	1
Aunt	39	306	3.2%	2.2	1
Second Engineer	19	124	1.3%	0.9	1
Voices	22	113	1.2%	0.8	5
Policeman	9	68	0.7%	0.5	1
Guard	8	65	0.7%	0.5	1
Gentleman	3	17	0.2%	0.1	1
Man	2	16	0.2%	0.1	1
The Woman	1	4	0%	0.0	1
Men	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	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Yank
Paddy
Long
Mildred
Voice
Secretary
Aunt

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Yank: “Welcome to your city, huh? Hail, hail, de gang…”	Scene 8	823	83
Paddy: “We belong to this, you’re saying? We make the …”	Scene 1	570	57
Yank: “Aw, yuh crazy Mick! Aw, take it easy. Yuh’re a…”	Scene 1	564	57
Yank: “I scared her? Why de hell should I scare her? …”	Scene 4	258	26
Yank: “T’ hell wit youse! Hello, Kiddo. How’s every l…”	Scene 5	248	25
Yank: “So dem boids don’t tink I belong, neider. Aw, …”	Scene 7	208	21
Yank: “Sit down before I knock yuh down! De Bible, hu…”	Scene 1	206	21
Yank: “Hairy ape, huh? Sure! Dat’s de way she looked …”	Scene 4	194	20
Mildred: “Please do not mock at my attempts to discover …”	Scene 2	172	18
Long: “Hinsultin’ us! Hinsultin’ us, the bloody cow! …”	Scene 4	155	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.

Aunt and Voices
Aunt and Policeman
Aunt and Guard
Aunt and Gentleman
Aunt and Man
Aunt and The Woman
Aunt and Men
Second Engineer and Voices
Second Engineer and Policeman
Second Engineer and Guard
Second Engineer and Gentleman
Second Engineer and Man

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in The Hairy Ape?

Yank, with about 560 lines and 5,129 words, 54.2% of everything spoken in the play. Paddy is next, with about 125 lines (12.1%).

How long is The Hairy Ape?

The full text has 9,463 spoken words, about 68 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 The Hairy Ape?

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