{{Short description|Play written by Paul Pörtner}} {{for|the German-language film|Sheer Madness{{!}}''Sheer Madness''}} {{Infobox play | name = Shear Madness | image = Shear Madness set at the Kennedy Center.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = ''Shear Madness'' set at the [[Kennedy Center]] | writer = [[Paul Pörtner]] | chorus = | characters = | mute = | setting = | premiere = {{Start date|1963}} | place = [[Theater Ulm]]<br />[[Ulm]], [[Germany]] | orig_lang = German | series = | subject = | genre = | web = http://www.shearmadness.com }}
'''''Shear Madness''''' is an [[interactive theatre|interactive]] [[whodunit]] play, and one of the longest-running nonmusical [[Play (theatre)|plays]] in the world.<ref name="MIT">[http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N48/Shear_Madness.48a.html STAGE REVIEW: Shear Madness - Consistently Different], ''The Tech''</ref> The Boston production ran from 1980 to 2020 at the Charles Playhouse Stage II.<ref name=":0">[https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/11/arts/shear-madness-close-after-40-years/ Shear Madness to Close after 40 years]. ''[[Boston Globe]]'', March 12, 2020.</ref> A second production began in 1987 at the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] and is currently running.
Shear Madness is based on the German-language play ''Scherenschnitt'' which was written by [[Paul Pörtner]] (1925–1984) and first performed at the [[Theater Ulm]] in [[Ulm]], Germany in 1963.
==Plot== The play is set in a [[unisex]] [[hair salon]] in the city where it is played. The landlady, Isabel Czerny, who lives above the shop is [[murder]]ed and the audience gets involved in the action by questioning the actors and attempting to solve the crime. The characters include a flamboyant [[hairdresser]] and their flirty yet ditzy assistant, along with a prim and proper uptight older lady, and an older man who is a "used antique dealer". Much of the dialogue is improvised by the actors, and the humor tends to revolve around topical references to current events.
The ending of the play is different every night as audience members hear clues, question the characters, and then vote on who they think is guilty. Whoever the audience votes to be the murderer, that person improvises dialogue along with the rest of the cast to reveal themselves.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Shear Madness |url=https://www.shearmadness.com/about |website=shearmadness.com |accessdate=9 March 2024}}</ref> == Current productions ==
=== United States === In August 1987, a production of Shear Madness opened at the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]]'s Theater Lab in [[Washington D.C.]], and continues as of 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shear Madness {{!}} The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts |url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/theater/2023-2024/shear-madness/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=The Kennedy Center}}</ref> It has been performed there over 14,000 times.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shear Madness |url=https://www.shearmadness.com/ |access-date=2026-05-03 |website=www.shearmadness.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Poland === A production began in [[Warsaw|Warsaw, Poland]] at the [[Kwadrat Theatre]] in 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Szalone nożyczki {{!}} Teatr Kwadrat im. Edwarda Dziewońskiego w Warszawie |url=https://teatrkwadrat.pl/spektakl/szalone-nozyczki |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=teatrkwadrat.pl |language=pl}}</ref> By January 2025, it had been performed over 1,200 times in Warsaw.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Szalone ćwierć wieku |url=https://teatrvaria.blogspot.com/2025/01/szalone-cwierc-wieku.html |access-date=2026-05-03 |website=Szalone ćwierć wieku}}</ref>
In 2006, productions of Shear Madness began at the [[Bagatela Theatre]] in [[Kraków]], Poland. In 2024, the Kraków production celebrated its 1,000 performance of the play at the theater.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Polish theatre marks one thousand performances of American hit comedy Shear Madness - English Section |url=https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7791/Artykul/3458900,polish-theatre-marks-one-thousand-performances-of-american-hit-comedy-shear-madness |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=polskieradio.pl |language=pl}}</ref>
=== France === A French adaptation by director Sébastien Azzopardi, written by Azzopardi and Sacha Danino, opened in Paris at the [[Théâtre des Mathurins]] in 2011 and has had over 3,500 performances.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dernier coup de ciseaux |url=https://www.theatredesmathurins.com/spectacles/dernier-coup-de-ciseaux/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Théâtre des Mathurins |language=fr-FR}}</ref> ==Past productions== [[File:Actor Patrick Shea.JPG|thumb|Patrick Shea performed with the Boston cast of ''Shear Madness'' from 1983 until its closure in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wu |first=Fei |date=2020-02-05 |title=Shear Madness 40th Anniversary Boston Charles Playhouse Interview|url=https://www.feisworld.com/blog/shear-madness-40th-anniversary-boston-charles-playhouse-interview |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=feisworld.com}}</ref><ref name=":1" />]]
=== North America === ''Shear Madness'' first opened in [[Lake George (New York)|Lake George, New York]] in 1978.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2020-01-28 |title=40 Years Of 'Shear Madness,' Where Success, At Least, Is No Mystery |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/01/28/forty-years-shear-madness |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=wbur.org}}</ref>
A production opened in November 2015 at the [[New World Stages]] [[Off-Broadway]] theater in [[New York City]] running there until July 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shear Madness Reopens at a New Off-Broadway Theatre Today |url=https://playbill.com/article/shear-madness-reopens-at-a-new-off-broadway-theatre-today-com-371048 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241112103750/https://playbill.com/article/shear-madness-reopens-at-a-new-off-broadway-theatre-today-com-371048 |archive-date=2024-11-12 |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Playbill}}</ref> It then reopened later that month at the [[Davenport theatre|Davenport Theater]], running until April 2017. Productions also ran in Philadelphia and Chicago.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.shearmadness.com/about |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=shearmadness.com}}</ref>
A Spanish adaptation by director [[Rina Rajlevsky]], written by [[Alberto Lomnitz]] and [[Ricardo Esquerra]], opened in 2017 in Mexico City at the Fernando Soler Theatre.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Franco |first=Estela Leñero |date=February 9, 2018 |title="La estética del crimen" |url=https://www.proceso.com.mx/521852/la-estetica-del-crimen}}</ref>
==== Boston ==== In January 1980, it opened Boston at the [[Charles Playhouse]] Stage II and initially was planned for an 8-week run before heading to New York. However, the show initially failed to re-coup so it continued on in Boston until it made back its initial investment, which it did in August 1980.<ref name=":2" /> It continued on for the next 40 years, closing for good on March 15, 2020 citing potential loses from the then emerging [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bass |first1=Emily |date=27 December 2019 |title=Four Decades of Madness |url=https://bostonguide.com/article-78792-four-decades-of-madness.html |accessdate=23 January 2020 |website=bostonguide.com}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
The Boston production was described as the longest running non-musical play in the United States and the second-longest-running non-musical play in the world, after [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[The Mousetrap]]'' which has been performed in [[London]] since 1952.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-10-14 |title=Record-Breaking Play Shear Madness Readies For New York, and We Have the First Pics! |url=https://playbill.com/article/record-breaking-play-shear-madness-readies-for-new-york-and-we-have-the-first-pics-com-367085 |website=Playbill.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Collins-Hughes |first=Laura |date=2015-11-12 |title=Review: 'Shear Madness,' Where Getting a Haircut Is Murder |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/theater/review-shear-madness-where-getting-a-haircut-is-murder.html |access-date=2025-02-15 |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> However a few other non-musical plays have run for longer: [[Eugène Ionesco]]'s ''[[The Bald Soprano]]'' in [[Paris]] since 1957 and [[Israel Horovitz]]'s ''[[Line (play)|Line]]'' in [[New York City]] (1974–2018).
=== Europe === A Catalan adaptation by director [[Pere Planella]], written by [[Guillem-Jordi Graells]], opened in 1987 in Barcelona.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=de Frutos|first=María Francisca Vilches|date=1988|title=La temporada teatral española 1986-1987|journal=Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea|volume=13|issue=3|pages=331–369|issn=0272-1635|jstor=27741858}}</ref>
A Spanish translation by [[Nacho Artime]] premiered in April 1989 in Madrid at the Teatro Figaro.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.madridteatro.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5033:por-los-pelos-p-poertner-resena-1989&catid=315:critica&Itemid=287|title=Por los Pelos P. Pörtner. Reseña 1989|website=www.madridteatro.net|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref> It was restaged there in the 1990s, 2000s, and twice in the 2010s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Madridiario |title=Por los pelos: asesinato entre secadores |url=https://www.madridiario.es/468593/por-los-pelos:-asesinato-entre-secadores |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Madridiario |language=es}}</ref>
A Turkish adaptation by director [[Nedim Saban]] opened in Istanbul in 1998 and ran for over 500 performances. In 2003, Saban adapted the play for the second time, introducing SMS messages and online chat as means of audience interaction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Radikal-çevrimiçi / Kültür/Sanat / En son teknolojiyle tiyatro |url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=61170 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404030806/http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=61170 |archive-date=4 April 2012 |access-date=13 January 2022 |website=radikal.com.tr}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External sources== * {{official website|1=http://www.shearmadness.com}}
[[Category:1980 plays]] [[Category:Detective, mystery and crime plays]] [[Category:German plays]]