Audition pieces that fit a strict 60-second time limit — counted by spoken pace, not page length.
A one-minute monologue means roughly 120-140 spoken words at a natural pace — closer to 100 if the piece sits with pauses. The pieces on this page have all been measured against that ceiling. If a casting brief asks for a one-minute monologue, anything here is safe.
from A Midsummer Night's Dream
Oberon • William Shakespeare
from Macbeth
Macbeth • William Shakespeare
from A Midsummer Night's Dream
Puck • William Shakespeare
from Hamlet
Ophelia • William Shakespeare
from Twelfth Night
Viola • William Shakespeare
from King Lear
King Lear • William Shakespeare
from The Tempest
Prospero • William Shakespeare
from A Midsummer Night's Dream
Bottom • William Shakespeare
from A Streetcar Named Desire
Blanche DuBois • Tennessee Williams
from Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler • Henrik Ibsen
from Arms and the Man
Raina • George Bernard Shaw
from Macbeth
Lady Macbeth • William Shakespeare
Why one-minute? Most modern audition briefs cap at 60–90 seconds. Self-tapes for film and TV often want even less. Going over the cap is one of the fastest ways to lose a casting director — they are working through dozens of submissions and they cap viewing time deliberately. Bringing a piece that respects the time signals professionalism before you say a word.
What makes a one-minute piece work? Specificity from line one. You do not have time to build slowly. The character has to want something immediately, and the audience has to know what it is by the second sentence. Anything that takes thirty seconds to set up the situation is a piece for the two-minute slot, not the one-minute slot.
Pieces here are tagged by tone and gender below. If you are looking for the next-tier-up length, see our 2-minute monologue collection.