Theatre Royal, Nottingham – until 1st March 2025
Reviewed by Chris Jarvis
4****
This play is a hilarious insight into the relationship between the 3 main actors in the Blockbuster cinematic phenomenon – Jaws!
It was the brainchild of Ian Shaw – son of the late Robert Shaw one of the leading actors in Jaws the movie released in the summer of 1975 directed by the young inexperienced Steven Spielberg. While most people remember the terror created by this film, most have little knowledge of what went on behind the scenes.
It was filmed out in the Atlantic Ocean where weather conditions couldn’t be controlled and other ships frequently passed in the background, both resulting in delays in shooting as modern methods of ‘airbrushing’ weren’t available in the 70’s. The 25ft mechanical sharks designed in a freshwater tank, performed less well in salt water and kept breaking down resulting in further delays.
Jaws immortalised its actors and creator, but almost ended Steven Spielberg’s career before it had really begun! It was months over schedule and the cost spiralled from 4 to 14 million dollars.
The Shark is Broken as well as being the title of this play, became a daily reason for filming to be delayed while the 3 leading actors waited on a small fishing boat out in the Atlantic for filming to start. The brilliant set designed by Duncan Henderson of the boat in cross section, allows the audience to experience the interplay between these 3 very different characters on stage, as though we were there.
Robert Shaw played the shark hunter Captain Quint, hired by the town to restore tourist confidence in their beach following the rogue shark attacks. He is played by his son Ian and the likeness between him and his father is uncanny, even down to his voice.
Roy Scheider who played Chief Brody, the local Chief of Police on Amity Island under pressure from the mayor and residents to get rid of the shark. He is played by Dan Fredenburgh.
Richard Dreyfuss who played Matt Hooper, the marine biologist. He is played by Ashley Margolis.
The Shark is Broken shares with the audience the relationship between the actual actors and not the characters they were playing in Jaws – though it’s sometimes difficult to separate the actor from their character. The experienced British actor Robert Shaw who was a heavy drinker and often drunk, gave the less experienced and, in Shaw’s mind, arrogant Richard Dreyfuss a really hard time. He continually goaded him to “mind his mannerisms” when filming, impacting his confidence. The more philosophical ‘live and let live’, Roy Scheider acted as go-between trying to keep the peace, even standing between them to break up fights.
Their differences in opinion were amplified by hour after hour on the boat with nothing to occupy them other than daily newspapers to keep up with current world events – many of which served to highlight their differences leading to further arguments with much humour for the audience and very clever links to current events.
While reading the newspaper coverage of US President Nixon and the Watergate Affair Roy Scheider commented that “there will never be a more immoral president than Nixon” – the audience of 2025 erupted in laughter!
They played every card game imaginable creating further competition between them. A simple game of Shove Ha’penny suggested by Robert Shaw and unheard of by the 2 Americans, amplified the tension and disdain when Richard Dreyfuss won on the last shove.
Ian Shaw, Dan Fredenburgh and Ashley Margolis were all brilliant in their roles and all bore resemblance to the original actors in Jaws, making them more believable. Many of the incidents in this play are based on real accounts of events and relationships at the time of production of Jaws and are portrayed in an enjoyable and often ‘laugh out loud’ comedy that kept the audience entertained.
A laugh out loud moment for the audience towards the end when they were discussing what the movie was actually about came with Robert Shaw‘s epic derogatory response “Do you really think they’re going to be talking about this in 50 years?” Sadly, Robert Shaw didn’t live to see the longevity of the film, but it stands as testament to the pain endured in the making of it and the foundation now of a must see play in reminiscence, which is at times both painful and laugh out loud.