Twelfth Night: every role by lines, words, and stage time

William Shakespeare. 18 speaking roles, 19,416 words, about 139 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Sir Toby has the most to say in Twelfth Night: about 342 lines and 2,671 words, 13.8% of the play. Twelfth Night spreads its words evenly: Sir Toby, Viola, Feste, Olivia, and Malvolio all have roughly the same amount to say. Much of the comedy is in prose, so line counts look smaller than the stage time these parts really need.

Speaking roles: 18
Scenes: 18
Words: 19,416
Speech time: 139 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Sir Toby	342	2,671	13.8%	19.1	10
Viola	339	2,566	13.2%	18.3	8
Feste	290	2,423	12.5%	17.3	7
Olivia	309	2,303	11.9%	16.5	6
Malvolio	271	2,225	11.5%	15.9	7
Orsino	218	1,614	8.3%	11.5	4
Maria	148	1,213	6.2%	8.7	7
Sir Andrew	155	1,161	6%	8.3	8
Sebastian	124	1,002	5.2%	7.2	5
Fabian	112	858	4.4%	6.1	4
Antonio	106	801	4.1%	5.7	4
Captain	32	239	1.2%	1.7	1
Valentine	13	102	0.5%	0.7	2
First Officer	12	100	0.5%	0.7	2
Priest	8	57	0.3%	0.4	1
Curio	7	41	0.2%	0.3	2
Servant	3	21	0.1%	0.2	1
Second Officer	3	19	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	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.5	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.4	2.5	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.4	4.1	4.2	4.3	5.1
Sir Toby
Viola
Feste
Olivia
Malvolio
Orsino
Maria
Sir Andrew
Sebastian
Fabian
Antonio

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Malvolio: “M, O, A, I; this simulation is not as the form…”	Act 2, Scene 5	371	38
Viola: “I left no ring with her: what means this lady?”	Act 2, Scene 2	208	25
Malvolio: “O, ho! do you come near me now? no worse man t…”	Act 3, Scene 4	194	20
Sebastian: “This is the air; that is the glorious sun;”	Act 4, Scene 3	178	21
Antonio: “Orsino, noble sir,”	Act 5, Scene 1	157	21
Malvolio: “Lady, you have. Pray you, peruse that letter.”	Act 5, Scene 1	127	15
Orsino: “Why should I not, had I the heart to do it,”	Act 5, Scene 1	126	15
Viola: “There is a fair behavior in thee, captain;”	Act 1, Scene 2	125	15
Feste: “When that I was and a little tiny boy, With he…”	Act 5, Scene 1	123	13
Sebastian: “No, sooth, sir: my determinate voyage is mere …”	Act 2, Scene 1	120	12

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.

Fabian and Captain
Fabian and Valentine
Fabian and Curio
Antonio and Captain
Antonio and Valentine
Antonio and Curio
Captain and Valentine
Captain and First Officer
Captain and Priest
Captain and Curio
Captain and Servant
Captain and Second Officer

Roles and monologues in depth

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Twelfth Night?

Sir Toby, with about 342 lines and 2,671 words, 13.8% of everything spoken in the play. Viola is next, with about 339 lines (13.2%).

How long is Twelfth Night?

The full text has 19,416 spoken words, about 139 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 Twelfth Night?

18 named roles speak in this edition, across 18 scenes. 7 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.