Paul Pörtner (25 January 1925 – 16 November 1984) was a German playwright,novelist, translator, and editor.
After completing a directorial apprenticeship at the municipal theatre of his nativeWuppertal, from 1951 Pörtner studied philosophy, plus German and Frenchliterature, at the University of Cologne. He later continued his studiesin France. In 1958 he began earning a living as a professional author, and from1976 on was permanently employed by Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg as adirector of radio plays. His short stories and novels very often deal with social outsiders and the disadvantaged – as a young man,he himself became physically handicapped during World War II. His work shows Pörtner to be awriter who was also deeply drawn to burlesque, in which his characters act in desperate and irrational ways. He also consistently uses experimental language and wordplay. His interest in avant-garde theatre led him to embrace the theories of Jacob Levy Moreno, Antonin Artaud and Erwin Piscator. In addition, through his stage work as director and playwright he fell under the charm of commedia dell'arte, as well as the absurdism of Kurt Schwitters and Alfred Jarry. In 1963 Pörtner wrote the interactive play Scherenschnitt oder Der Mörder sind Sie in which the audience takes a leading role. This was first performed the same year at Theater Ulm, and at least seventy-five other German theatres followed suit.
In the United States Scherenschnitt, rewritten and titled Shear Madness, became the longest-running, non-musical play in USA stage history. Productions in eighteen other countries have made Scherenschnitt an international hit: with the exception of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, Pörtner's interactive play is currently the longest-running play in the world. In addition to his seventeen theatre plays, Pörtner wrote more than 20 radio plays that are still influential in the German-speaking world.