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.
The younger Mr. Shaw, who is now older than his father was when he died in 1978 at the age of 51, has stepped into his father’s deck shoes. He is joined by actors Colin Donnell (partner to Sutton Foster in both Anything Goes and Violet), who has the mannerisms of the late Scheider down pat, and Alex Brightman (of School of Rock and Beetlejuice), who limns a supremely sharp sketch of an impossibly but believably annoying Dreyfuss. The two American actors, by now quite familiar for their Broadway musical appearances, offer exceptionally diverting caricatures.
The problem facing the playwrights is finding a new hook (sorry) in telling this oft-told making-of-a-fish tale. Much of the behind-the-scenes details have been widely known since the 1970s, in part due to the outstanding memoir The Jaws Log by screenwriter Carl Gottlieb. Indeed, the on-set difficulties have become so entrenched in cultural lore that the title of this play needs no explanation or elaboration to reel in audiences. And even though the film cast’s personality clashes are nearly as legendary as the mechanical shark’s short circuits, the play’s authors and performers deliver such nicely detailed characterizations that The Shark Is Broken holds our interest throughout its 95 minutes.
2021 | West End |
West End |
2023 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | Joseph Nixon |
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