Paul Pörtner (25 January 1925 – 16 November 1984) was a German playwright, novelist, translator, and editor.

Life

After completing a directorial apprenticeship at the municipal theatre of his native

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

, from 1951 Pörtner studied philosophy, plus German and French literature, at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

. He later continued his studies in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 1958 he began earning a living as a professional author, and from 1976 on was permanently employed by

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

as a director of

radio plays Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

. His

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

and

novels A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

very often deal with social outsiders and the disadvantaged – as a young man, he himself became physically handicapped during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His work shows Pörtner to be a writer who was also deeply drawn to

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

, in which his characters act in desperate and irrational ways. He also consistently uses experimental language and

wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...

. His interest in avant-garde theatre led him to embrace the theories of Jacob Levy Moreno,

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

and

Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content of ...

. In addition, through his stage work as director and playwright he fell under the charm of

commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

, as well as the

absurdism Absurdism is the philosophical theory that existence in general is absurd. This implies that the world lacks Meaning of life, meaning or a higher purpose and is not fully intelligible by reason. The term "absurd" also has a more specific sense ...

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, pain ...

and

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896). He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, ...

. 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

''Scherenschnitt'', rewritten and titled ''

Shear Madness ''Shear Madness'' is an interactive whodunit play, and is one of the longest-running nonmusical plays in the world.Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

's ''

The Mousetrap ''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. ''The Mousetrap'' opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-1 ...

'', 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.

Selected works

Publications

* ''Sternbild Selbstbild''. Poems. Wuppertal 1958 * ''Schattensteine''. Poems. Wuppertal 1958 * ''Wurzelwerk''. Poems. Wuppertal 1960 * ''Experiment Theater. Chronik und Dokumente''. Chronicles and documents. Zürich 1960 * ''Tobias Immergrün''. Novel. Köln 1962 * ''Sophie Imperator''. Drama. Köln 1964 * ''Scherenschnitt. Kriminalstück zum Mitspielen''. Stage-play. Köln 1964 * ''Gestern''. Novel. Köln 1965 * ''Einkreisung eines dicken Mannes. Erzählungen, Beschreibungen, Grotesken''. Tales. Köln 1968 * ''Spontanes Theater. Erfahrungen, Konzepte''. Essays. Köln 1972

Plays

* ''Mensch Meier oder Das Glücksrad'', 1959 * ''Variationen für zwei Schauspieler'', 1960 * ''Sophie Imperator'', 1961 * ''Drei'', 1962 * ''Scherenschnitt oder Der Mörder sind Sie'' (''

Shear Madness ''Shear Madness'' is an interactive whodunit play, and is one of the longest-running nonmusical plays in the world.Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Jean Tardieu Jean Tardieu (born in Saint-Germain-de-Joux, Ain, 1 November 1903, died in Créteil, Val-de-Marne, 27 January 1995) was a French artist, musician, poet and dramatic author. Life and career He earned a degree in literature and worked for a publi ...

: ''Der Raum und die Flöte. Variationen zu 12 Zeichnungen''. Zürich 1959 * Jean Tardieu: ''Kammertheater''. Neuwied 1960 * André Frénaud: ''Quelle der Quellen''. Neuwied 1962 * Jean Tardieu: ''Professor Froeppel''. Köln 1966

External links

Literature by and about Paul Pörtner in the catalogue of Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
* Paul Pörtner in th
German
an
English
versions of the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Reinhard Döhl über Paul Pörtner

Porträt der Stadtverwaltung Wuppertal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portner, Paul 1925 births 1984 deaths Writers from Wuppertal German editors 20th-century German translators 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights German male novelists German male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers