I am having a ton of trouble finding a good one-act play to direct.  I would prefer something with 3 actors or less, and an intelligent, modern comedy, satire, or dark comedy.  This has led me to nearly rip out all of my hair.  Your help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Try ?The Boat? I think it is the one by Jill Shearer!

Where a bloke who has worked, for the same company most of his life, is suddenly made redundant!

So he puts his small fishing boat, in his lounge room & goes fishing, while his family goes through different issues, & live their lives around him!

It is seriously - very funny!

May I suggest my play, GOLDEN ELLIOTT?

SYNOPSIS

Connie, a deeply troubled Vietnam War veteran, must finally confront the truth about how the brutality of that war changed forever his idealized childhood friendship. The psychological shock of what happened to him in Vietnam caused him to retreat back to the innocence he knew prior to entering the military. Having spent years in a mental hospital with dead end therapy, he is released to his guardian, who lives next door to the family of the best friend (Elliott Baylor) that he lost in Vietnam. Deemed harmless, it is Connie's constant replay of events from his youth that bring about a confrontation with the mother and sister of Elliott; and thus, the revelation of the awful truth about Elliott's death.

2F,1M

1 Set

Mrs. Baylor: 64, she is a music teacher and housewife. Jolene: Her daughter, who is a college professor. She is 42. Connie: A disturbed man of 44.

The scene of action is continuous and takes place on the service porch of the Baylor home. The place is a semi-rural area in the Midwest, a long time after the Vietnam War.

This play has had several successful productions.

 

To download a copy of the play, go to http://www.scriptcircle.co.uk/index.php, click on "one-acts," and enter Stockham for playwright or "Golden Elliott" for the play.

 

Check out the collected works of David Ives.
His anthology "All In The Timing" has some
wonderfully funny, short one-acts.

Thank you guys so much for all of your help.  I just purchased The Laramie Project, although I don't plan to direct it, and Waiting for Godot.  I will look at all of those.  Thank you so much, everyone.