Free play script timer
Use our free play script timer calculator to estimate the play time for your script!
Are you working on a play script and wondering how long it will take to perform? Utilize our free play script timer to get an estimate of how many minutes your script will require for performance. Simply paste your text or input your word count. Find information about estimated words per minute below the play script timer calculator.
Words per minute
In a 2021 study, Wang Liexamined English speech rates to determine if the British spoke faster in 2020 compared to 1990. She discovered that the average speech rate for the British was 198 words per minute, with variations depending on the context.
Her research analyzed extensive amounts of broadcasted speech, including news, interviews, and conversations. Additionally, she studied speech rates in lectures at British universities available on YouTube. The table below displays the average rates for various types of speech categories.
Categories | Words per minute |
News monologues | 198 |
Interviews | 197 |
Conversations | 222 |
Academic Lectures | 173 |
It’s worth noting that these numbers may not be entirely applicable for those interested in gauging the duration of a play script enactment, as they do not account for pauses between dialogues or monologues, nor the parts of the play with no lines.
Play script word-to-play length ratio
A potentially more effective method for estimating the length of a theatrical performance is to calculate the word-to-minute ratio by dividing the word count of the play script by the performance length of well-known plays. In the table below, we’ve gathered word counts from several Shakespeare plays and divided them by their respective performance lengths. We’ve computed an average word-to-minute ratio, which is approximately 177 words per minute.
Play | Word count | Length (minutes) | Words per minute |
Hamlet | 30557 | 240 | 127.32 |
Richard III | 29278 | 160 | 182.99 |
Coriolanus | 27589 | 120 | 229.91 |
Cymbeline | 27565 | 180 | 153.14 |
Othello | 26450 | 150 | 176.33 |
King Lear | 26145 | 120 | 217.88 |
Henry V | 26119 | 150 | 174.13 |
Troilus and Cressida | 26089 | 130 | 200.68 |
The Winter’s Tale | 24914 | 130 | 191.65 |
Antony and Cleopatra | 24905 | 135 | 184.48 |
Henry VIII | 24629 | 145 | 169.86 |
Romeo and Juliet | 24545 | 150 | 163.63 |
All’s Well That Ends Well | 23009 | 130 | 177.00 |
Richard II | 22423 | 140 | 160.16 |
The Merchant of Venice | 21291 | 150 | 141.94 |
Average words per minute | 176.74 |
The word count data is sourced from Statista, and performance lengths are collected from various theatre groups’ estimates.
Summary
We trust that this article and our free play script timer proves useful when estimating the performance time for your theatre play script. Keep in mind that speech rates can vary from person to person, and the calculator should be used as a rough guide for estimating the time it takes to perform a script.
Also, note that the categories monologue, lecture and conversation are all speech rates based on Wang’s research. They do not account for pauses between dialogue and monologue at all.
The “average for plays” will give a more accurate estimate for the actual length of your play, so feel free to paste your whole script (not just the dialogue and monologue) and let our free play script timer give you an estimate.
We at Star Musicals Press enjoy writing musicals for kids. Please feel free to download our free perusal scripts and listen to our tunes on Spotify, youtube or whatever streaming service you use.