Uncle Vanya: every role by lines, words, and stage time

Anton Chekhov, translated by Constance Garnett. 10 speaking roles, 13,913 words, about 99 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Astrov has the most to say in Uncle Vanya: about 452 lines and 3,939 words, 28.3% of the play. Uncle Vanya unfolds on a country estate disturbed by the visit of a retired professor and his young wife. The largest part is not the title role but Astrov, with about 28% of the words; Voynitsky (Vanya) has about a fifth. Yelena and Sonya follow closely, and all five leading roles speak in every act.

Speaking roles: 10
Scenes: 4
Words: 13,913
Speech time: 99 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Astrov	452	3,939	28.3%	28.1	4
Voynitsky	340	2,831	20.3%	20.2	4
Yelena	291	2,318	16.7%	16.6	4
Sonya	241	1,970	14.2%	14.1	4
Serebryakov	161	1,425	10.2%	10.2	4
Marina	81	630	4.5%	4.5	4
Telyegin	70	582	4.2%	4.2	4
Marya	24	180	1.3%	1.3	3
Labourer	5	25	0.2%	0.2	2
Watchman’s Voice	3	13	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	Act 4
Astrov
Voynitsky
Yelena
Sonya
Serebryakov
Marina
Telyegin

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Astrov: “I have my own table here, in this house … in I…”	Act 3	537	54
Astrov: “You can heat your stoves with peat and build y…”	Act 1	309	31
Serebryakov: “Here is maman. I will begin, friends . I have …”	Act 3	304	31
Voynitsky: “The Professor, as before, sits in his study wr…”	Act 1	290	31
Voynitsky: “She is gone . Ten years ago I used to meet her…”	Act 2	271	28
Yelena: “Nothing is worse than knowing somebody else’s …”	Act 3	253	26
Yelena: “It is not a question of forests and medicine. …”	Act 2	215	22
Astrov: “Yes. … In ten years I have become a different …”	Act 1	196	20
Astrov: “No. In the third week of Lent I went to Malits…”	Act 1	174	18
Astrov: “No one. I feel a certain affection for your nu…”	Act 2	170	17

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.

Marya and Watchman’s Voice
Labourer and Watchman’s Voice

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Uncle Vanya?

Astrov, with about 452 lines and 3,939 words, 28.3% of everything spoken in the play. Voynitsky is next, with about 340 lines (20.3%).

How long is Uncle Vanya?

The full text has 13,913 spoken words, about 99 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 Uncle Vanya?

10 named roles speak in this edition, across 4 scenes. 3 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.