The Power of Darkness: every role by lines, words, and stage time

Leo Tolstoy, translated by Louise Maude and Aylmer Maude. 27 speaking roles, 23,433 words, about 167 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Matryóna has the most to say in The Power of Darkness: about 603 lines and 5,337 words, 22.8% of the play. Tolstoy’s peasant tragedy follows Nikíta, a farm laborer drawn into adultery, poisoning, and worse by his lover Anísya and his own mother, Matryóna. Matryóna, the schemer behind it all, is the largest part, with about 23% of the words, ahead of Nikíta and Anísya at about 18% and 17%. Mítritch, the old drunken laborer, has the longest single speech, in Act 5.

Speaking roles: 27
Scenes: 7
Words: 23,433
Speech time: 167 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Matryóna	603	5,337	22.8%	38.1	6
Nikíta	533	4,205	17.9%	30.0	7
Anísya	519	4,075	17.4%	29.1	7
Mítritch	310	2,746	11.7%	19.6	4
Akím	278	2,380	10.2%	17.0	3
Nan	146	1,098	4.7%	7.8	6
Peter	123	951	4.1%	6.8	2
Marína	96	807	3.4%	5.8	2
Akoulína	85	596	2.5%	4.3	4
Neighbour	66	509	2.2%	3.6	2
First Girl	16	126	0.5%	0.9	1
First Neighbour	14	118	0.5%	0.8	1
The Father	14	107	0.5%	0.8	1
Husband	8	67	0.3%	0.5	1
Police Officer	9	57	0.2%	0.4	1
Second Girl	8	55	0.2%	0.4	1
Second Neighbour	7	46	0.2%	0.3	1
Matchmaker	7	44	0.2%	0.3	1
Martha	3	21	0.1%	0.2	1
The Driver	3	19	0.1%	0.1	1
The Best Man	2	17	0.1%	0.1	1
Peasant’s Voice	2	14	0.1%	0.1	1
Voice	2	11	0%	0.1	1
A Voice in the Crowd	1	10	0%	0.1	1
Marína’s Husband	1	9	0%	0.1	1
Elder	1	5	0%	0.0	1
Girls	1	3	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	4.1	4.2	5.1	5.2
Matryóna
Nikíta
Anísya
Mítritch
Akím
Nan
Peter
Marína
Akoulína
Neighbour

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Mítritch: “Didn’t I say I won’t! Oh, Nikíta, you’re as st…”	Act 5, Scene 1	313	32
Nikíta: “Here’s a go! Oh these women! What a fix! Says …”	Act 4, Scene 1	212	22
Matryóna: “Dear me, here’s news! D’you think Mother Matry…”	Act 1	181	19
Mítritch: “Why, in their own house; that’s where! We came…”	Act 4, Scene 2	180	18
Matryóna: “About your affairs, about your future. If you …”	Act 2	176	18
Mítritch: “You wait. You’ll see it comes just to the same…”	Act 3	170	17
Matryóna: “So my old man—the old blockhead—off he goes: “…”	Act 1	161	17
Mítritch: “Get along! ’Tain’t a thing a woman can underst…”	Act 3	158	16
Mítritch: “What an idea! Germans! Not Germans, but Asiati…”	Act 4, Scene 2	146	15
Marína: “I might go in, but I don’t like to, because I …”	Act 5, Scene 1	145	15

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.

Nan and Police Officer
Nan and Matchmaker
Nan and The Driver
Nan and The Best Man
Nan and Elder
Peter and First Girl
Peter and First Neighbour
Peter and The Father
Peter and Husband
Peter and Police Officer
Peter and Second Girl
Peter and Second Neighbour

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in The Power of Darkness?

Matryóna, with about 603 lines and 5,337 words, 22.8% of everything spoken in the play. Nikíta is next, with about 533 lines (17.9%).

How long is The Power of Darkness?

The full text has 23,433 spoken words, about 167 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 Power of Darkness?

27 named roles speak in this edition, across 7 scenes. 17 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.