Martha’s Vineyard, 1974: shooting on ‘Jaws’ has stalled. The film’s lead actors – Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss – are stuck on a boat, at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical co-star. Awash with alcohol and ambition, three hammered sharks start to bare their teeth…Directed by Guy Masterson, THE SHARK IS BROKEN reveals the hilarious behind-the-scenes drama on one of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters.
“What psychological insights into Shaw might we be offered?” I wondered on the way into the theater, “What deep-dive revelations await from a creative act that would appear to be both hubristic and profoundly courageous?” The younger Shaw must have had a window into his father that would have eluded most biographers. Or so you’d think. Alas, the show doesn’t deliver much at all. Not only is the low-stakes script dull and pedestrian, but the characters change not at all, despite the premise of three wild men sitting in a boat, waiting not for Godot but sharks and Spielberg. “The Shark is Broken” had its origins at the Edinburgh Festival, and in that context, it no doubt was a good campy laugh, especially for an audience that had followed Shaw’s pre-gaming example. But it makes for thin Broadway gruel, alas, with a 90-minute running time, a straight-up POV, and a series of behind-the-camera recreations of a situation that already has been much dissected and discussed.
Slender though it may be, at a crisp 95 minutes it holds one’s attention in no small part because the actors playing their more famous counterparts are so superb, giving performances that perfectly capture the personas, mannerisms and idiosyncrasies of Shaw, Dreyfuss and Scheider, at least as documented in various books and movies about the making of “Jaws.” Yet none of the actors is indulging in mere comic mimicry. All give fully rounded, nuanced performances that give the play a layer of verisimilitude in its more serious moments, as the movie actors—each at a different stage in his career—turn to self-examination and reveal their doubts and demons.
| 2021 | West End |
West End |
| 2023 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Featured Performer in a Play | Alex Brightman |
| 2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | Joseph Nixon |
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