The Glass Menagerie has four characters. No walk-ons or anything, just Laura, Tom, Amanda and Jim.
There’s a Harold Pinter play called The Dumb Waiter with two characters. And Waiting for Godot has already been mentioned.
Woody Allen play about cards (gin rummy, IIRC) is called Death Knocks.
I don’t think Godot’s your man. Two acts, well written- but usually runs more than an hour.
There are lots of good, short Beckett pieces out there. Come and Go is a particular favourite of mine. As is Krapp’s Last Tape. I am lately quite fixated on Not I and Rockaby.
Mamet- Sexual Perversity in Chicago , Ducks (I think this is the title)
Albee- Zoo Story
I’ll be back if I can think of more.
AL
I don’t know if it’s ‘good’ but I directed it in high school.
It’s called “The Valiant” and it’s by… damn. Um… Google says Holworthy Hall and Robert Middlemass.
Not funny, but emotional.
If you’re looking for very different and very flexible, you could try Hamletmachine the most famous work of the German coldwar playwright Heiner Mueller. It has been/can be done an infinite amount of ways. It would really be something to undertake, though.
This is N.Sane’s sister speaking (the theatre performance geek):
First of all, if you’re going to put on the play and charge admission, you have to purchase the rights (go through Samuel French or Dramatists Play Service), unless, of course, it’s a play that’s already in the public domain. If you do a play and you charge admission and you haven’t secured the rights, you can be liable for a shitload of money. This all pertains to copyright law.
If you need to edit, make sure you have permission to do so–it should be part of the rights you have when you sign the contract. If the author will let you change something, the contract will tell you what you may change and to what extent. For example, someone mentioned “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged;” in performance, you are actually allowed to update the dialogue and references to make it more topical. If it’s a workshop and you’re not charging admission, then you may edit and change stuff (but only in an educational workshop type setting). EXAMPLE: Somebody recently tried to perform “True West” by Sam Shepard with a female cast. They had already paid for the rights, but the rights were pulled from them and they’re just out the money. They are not allowed to perform the show.
For play suggestions, if you’re totally keen on Simon, you might want to consider doing just one act of a three-act play. You would have to obtain permission for this as well. Note that Neil Simon has a reputation for being especially picky about his dialogue.
If you want to go with a one-act, here are a few comedies:
Christopher Durang has a ton of short plays with small casts. There’s a really funny satire of “The Glass Menagerie.”
“Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” by Alan Ball
“Medea” by Christopher Durang and Wendy Wasserstein–this one is one of N. Sane’s personal favorites.
If you want to go classic comedy, Chekov wrote a short play called “The Bear,” which is freaking hilarious. It doesn’t read well, but every time I’ve seen it I laugh my ass off it’s so funny.
If you’re wanting restoration/classical stuff, check out one-acts by Sheridan or Moliere. If you want to go more modern, go to a bookstore and take a look at some of the newer stuff. There’s some great new stuff out that needs to get play. Plus, you may find that getting the rights is cheaper on the newer plays.
I’ll also agree with the David Ives notions, as well as Christopher Durang (his parody of *Equus * is almost as good as his parody of The Glass Menagerie), and suggest you also look into John Patrick Shanley who also has a collection of short plays published, and would be best known for his screenplay Moonstruck.