halacha - What are the minimum required sections of the Hagadah that must be said?

I am leading the Seder for my family, many whom are older people and young children who must be on a strict schedule. I.e., they have to eat by a certain time and must be asleep by a certain time, etc.

What are the minimal required parts of the Hagadah that must be said / done for halachic purposes / requirements? Here's what I assume:

• 4 cups of wine


• saying something about the yetzi'at mitzrayim - could be from the Hagadah or could this be even a d'var Torah?


• Eating matzah (motzi matzah)


• Eating maror



• the meal / se'udah


• bentching

In compiling the list, I am looking at the bare minimum required to fulfill sipur yetzi'at mitzrayim - telling the story of the Exodus, and the other "tangible" items / mitzvoth such as matzah & maror.

Note that I have eliminated intentionally a few items:

• Karpas and washing hands beforehand (I think these are minhagim)


• Rav Gamliel's statement of Pesach Matzah Maror. It is unclear to me how he derives that it is an absolute requirement to say these.


• Afikoman & Yachatz (I don't know the source stating that afikoman is required. If no afikoman, then why would you need yachatz?)


• Korech (even the phrasing in the hagadah seems to indicate that this is a minhag)



• Hallel (is this required to fulfill the mitzvah of sippur yetzi'at mitzrayim?)

Answer

A relevant post from Halacha-a-Day, http://halocho.blogspot.com/

Posted: 25 Mar 2015 01:01 AM PDT Seder night consists of food and talk.

Food:

• On Seder night there's a Mitzva in the Torah to eat a piece of Korban Pessach on Matza with Marror (bitter herbs). Until the Bet Hamikdash (temple) is rebuilt we only have the Matza and Marror.

The minimum Torah requirement is to eat a Kezayit (an olive's worth) of Matza, which is approximately one-third of a square machine-Matza.

At a typical Seder it's customary to eat 2 Kezeitim for Motzi-Matza, a 3rd for the Hillel-sandwich and a fourth for the Afikomen.

• On Seder night there's also a Rabbinic requirement to drink 4 cups of wine.

All the above - besides for the Marror - must be eaten while leaning on ones left side.

Talk:

The rest of the Seder consists of reading the entire Haggada. However, there's no Mitzva per se, to read the Haggada.

There's a Mitzva in the Torah to tell one's children the story of the Exodus from Egypt in Question-Answer format on Seder night.

To the above I would add saying kiddush and having a festive meal.

Finally, the greatest challenge to finishing early is starting after dark. I do not know a solution to that challenge.

Update: What we tried two years ago with good success with some young kids (3-6 yo) with little Judaic background was having the young kids sit in a circle on the living room floor and one of the Moms told the story of Pesach. As a result, the kids were quieted down and knew what to expect. It also used up some time as we waited for it to get dark.

Last year, My 9 yo grandson came over early in the day. In preparation for the evening, we took a sack and went around the house putting things in it of the type we would take if we were leaving the house never to return. Later, as we sat around the seder table waiting for it to get dark, he took out the items from the sack, one by one, and described what they were and why he would take them.