# Shear Madness

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Play written by Paul Pörtner

For the German-language film, see [*Sheer Madness*](/source/Sheer_Madness).

Shear Madness Shear Madness set at the Kennedy Center Written by Paul Pörtner

***Shear Madness*** is an [interactive](/source/Interactive_theatre) [whodunit](/source/Whodunit) play, and one of the longest-running nonmusical [plays](/source/Play_(theatre)) in the world.[1] The Boston production ran from 1980 to 2020 at the Charles Playhouse Stage II.[2] A second production began in 1987 at the [John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts](/source/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](/source/Paul_P%C3%B6rtner) (1925–1984) and first performed at the [Theater Ulm](/source/Theater_Ulm) in [Ulm](/source/Ulm), Germany in 1963.

## Plot

The play is set in a [unisex](/source/Unisex) [hair salon](/source/Hair_salon) in the city where it is played. The landlady, Isabel Czerny, who lives above the shop is [murdered](/source/Murder) and the audience gets involved in the action by questioning the actors and attempting to solve the crime. The characters include a flamboyant [hairdresser](/source/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.[3]

## Current productions

### United States

In August 1987, a production of Shear Madness opened at the [John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts](/source/John_F._Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts)'s Theater Lab in [Washington D.C.](/source/Washington_D.C.), and continues as of 2026.[4] It has been performed there over 14,000 times.[5]

### Poland

A production began in [Warsaw, Poland](/source/Warsaw) at the [Kwadrat Theatre](/source/Kwadrat_Theatre) in 1999.[6] By January 2025, it had been performed over 1,200 times in Warsaw.[7]

In 2006, productions of Shear Madness began at the [Bagatela Theatre](/source/Bagatela_Theatre) in [Kraków](/source/Krak%C3%B3w), Poland. In 2024, the Kraków production celebrated its 1,000 performance of the play at the theater.[8]

### France

A French adaptation by director Sébastien Azzopardi, written by Azzopardi and Sacha Danino, opened in Paris at the [Théâtre des Mathurins](/source/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_des_Mathurins) in 2011 and has had over 3,500 performances.[9]

## Past productions

Patrick Shea performed with the Boston cast of *Shear Madness* from 1983 until its closure in 2020.[10][11]

### North America

*Shear Madness* first opened in [Lake George, New York](/source/Lake_George_(New_York)) in 1978.[11]

A production opened in November 2015 at the [New World Stages](/source/New_World_Stages) [Off-Broadway](/source/Off-Broadway) theater in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) running there until July 2016.[12] It then reopened later that month at the [Davenport Theater](/source/Davenport_theatre), running until April 2017. Productions also ran in Philadelphia and Chicago.[13]

A Spanish adaptation by director [Rina Rajlevsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rina_Rajlevsky&action=edit&redlink=1), written by [Alberto Lomnitz](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alberto_Lomnitz&action=edit&redlink=1) and [Ricardo Esquerra](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ricardo_Esquerra&action=edit&redlink=1), opened in 2017 in Mexico City at the Fernando Soler Theatre.[14]

#### Boston

In January 1980, it opened Boston at the [Charles Playhouse](/source/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.[13] 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](/source/COVID-19_pandemic).[15][2]

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](/source/Agatha_Christie)'s *[The Mousetrap](/source/The_Mousetrap)* which has been performed in [London](/source/London) since 1952.[16][17] However a few other non-musical plays have run for longer: [Eugène Ionesco](/source/Eug%C3%A8ne_Ionesco)'s *[The Bald Soprano](/source/The_Bald_Soprano)* in [Paris](/source/Paris) since 1957 and [Israel Horovitz](/source/Israel_Horovitz)'s *[Line](/source/Line_(play))* in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) (1974–2018).

### Europe

A Catalan adaptation by director [Pere Planella](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pere_Planella&action=edit&redlink=1), written by [Guillem-Jordi Graells](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guillem-Jordi_Graells&action=edit&redlink=1), opened in 1987 in Barcelona.[18]

A Spanish translation by [Nacho Artime](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nacho_Artime&action=edit&redlink=1) premiered in April 1989 in Madrid at the Teatro Figaro.[19] It was restaged there in the 1990s, 2000s, and twice in the 2010s.[20]

A Turkish adaptation by director [Nedim Saban](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nedim_Saban&action=edit&redlink=1) 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.[21]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MIT_1-0)** [STAGE REVIEW: Shear Madness - Consistently Different](http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N48/Shear_Madness.48a.html), *The Tech*

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_2-1) [Shear Madness to Close after 40 years](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/11/arts/shear-madness-close-after-40-years/). *[Boston Globe](/source/Boston_Globe)*, March 12, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["About Shear Madness"](https://www.shearmadness.com/about). *shearmadness.com*. Retrieved 9 March 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Shear Madness | The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts"](https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/theater/2023-2024/shear-madness/). *The Kennedy Center*. Retrieved 2025-02-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Shear Madness"](https://www.shearmadness.com/). *www.shearmadness.com*. Retrieved 2026-05-03.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Szalone nożyczki | Teatr Kwadrat im. Edwarda Dziewońskiego w Warszawie"](https://teatrkwadrat.pl/spektakl/szalone-nozyczki). *teatrkwadrat.pl* (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-02-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Szalone ćwierć wieku"](https://teatrvaria.blogspot.com/2025/01/szalone-cwierc-wieku.html). *Szalone ćwierć wieku*. Retrieved 2026-05-03.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Polish theatre marks one thousand performances of American hit comedy Shear Madness - English Section"](https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7791/Artykul/3458900,polish-theatre-marks-one-thousand-performances-of-american-hit-comedy-shear-madness). *polskieradio.pl* (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-02-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Dernier coup de ciseaux"](https://www.theatredesmathurins.com/spectacles/dernier-coup-de-ciseaux/). *Théâtre des Mathurins* (in French). Retrieved 2025-02-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Wu, Fei (2020-02-05). ["Shear Madness 40th Anniversary Boston Charles Playhouse Interview"](https://www.feisworld.com/blog/shear-madness-40th-anniversary-boston-charles-playhouse-interview). *feisworld.com*. Retrieved 2025-02-17.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_11-1) ["40 Years Of 'Shear Madness,' Where Success, At Least, Is No Mystery"](https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/01/28/forty-years-shear-madness). *wbur.org*. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2025-02-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Shear Madness Reopens at a New Off-Broadway Theatre Today"](https://web.archive.org/web/20241112103750/https://playbill.com/article/shear-madness-reopens-at-a-new-off-broadway-theatre-today-com-371048). *Playbill*. Archived from [the original](https://playbill.com/article/shear-madness-reopens-at-a-new-off-broadway-theatre-today-com-371048) on 2024-11-12. Retrieved 2025-02-15.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_13-1) ["About"](https://www.shearmadness.com/about). *shearmadness.com*. Retrieved 2025-02-18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Franco, Estela Leñero (February 9, 2018). [""La estética del crimen""](https://www.proceso.com.mx/521852/la-estetica-del-crimen).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Bass, Emily (27 December 2019). ["Four Decades of Madness"](https://bostonguide.com/article-78792-four-decades-of-madness.html). *bostonguide.com*. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Record-Breaking Play Shear Madness Readies For New York, and We Have the First Pics!"](https://playbill.com/article/record-breaking-play-shear-madness-readies-for-new-york-and-we-have-the-first-pics-com-367085). *Playbill.com*. 2015-10-14.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Collins-Hughes, Laura (2015-11-12). ["Review: 'Shear Madness,' Where Getting a Haircut Is Murder"](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/theater/review-shear-madness-where-getting-a-haircut-is-murder.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2025-02-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** de Frutos, María Francisca Vilches (1988). "La temporada teatral española 1986-1987". *Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea*. **13** (3): 331–369. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0272-1635](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0272-1635). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [27741858](https://www.jstor.org/stable/27741858).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["Por los Pelos P. Pörtner. Reseña 1989"](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). *www.madridteatro.net*. Retrieved 2019-08-03.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Madridiario. ["Por los pelos: asesinato entre secadores"](https://www.madridiario.es/468593/por-los-pelos:-asesinato-entre-secadores). *Madridiario* (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-02-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Radikal-çevrimiçi / Kültür/Sanat / En son teknolojiyle tiyatro"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120404030806/http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=61170). *radikal.com.tr*. Archived from [the original](http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=61170) on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2022.

## External sources

- [Official website](http://www.shearmadness.com)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Shear Madness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear_Madness) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear_Madness?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.