THERE has been a trend in recent years to turn movies into stage plays or musicals with varying degrees of success, so you may be forgiven on seeing the posters and flyers for ‘The Shark is Broken’ that heaven forbid. here comes a sing-along-a -Jaws show.
Mercifully it is nothing of the sort but an extremely clever piece of writing by Ian Shaw about the hell-raising antics of his father actor Robert Shaw during the making of the classic 1974 movie Jaws. That’s the one where new director on the block, young Stephen Spielberg had hearts pounding along with the menacing soundtrack and that ‘fin’ coming at you for the kill like a submarine.
Picture by Manuel Harlan. sIan Shaw got the idea when reading through his father’s whisky-fuelled diary chronicling his three-men-in-a-boat confinement alongside Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss. He put his notion to seasoned scriptwriter Joseph Nixon and together they produced this quite remarkable piece of work which became the unlikely smash hit of Edinburgh Festival 2019. Since then, it has appeared in both the West End and on Broadway and is now at Malvern as part of a UK tour.
The original show was directed by the multi award winning Guy Masterson and Martha Geelan has stayed faithful to this in directing the tour version.
Duncan Henderson the setting and costume designer has recreated a cut in half version of Orca, the famous fishing boat from the movie. This is set against a very effective moving backscape of the ocean.
The show is a three hander with Ian Shaw as Robert Shaw, Dan Fredenbugh as Roy Scheider and Ashley Margolis as Richard Dreyfuss. All are excellent to the point that I never thought at any point I was watching actors playing actors – rather a spectator eavesdropping on the original stars.
Picture by Manuel Harlan. sIn reality the famous mechanical shark was a troublesome beast that did indeed keep breaking down, turning what was supposed to be a two month short shoot into a 159-day marathon. There was constant tension between Spielberg and Shaw because of the delays which in turn caused friction between the fishing boat marooned actors.
The three characters are clearly defined – Scheider is the peacemaker and consummate acting professional, Dreyfuss the nerdy- needy manic-depressive and Shaw the rambling smooth tongued alcoholic genius. Their maritime capers go from camaraderie belly laughs to attempted murder by throttling with the full emotional spectrum in between.
Picture by Manuel Harlan. s‘The Shark is Broken’ is as engrossing as it is unique. Like father like son Ian is Robert. What may have started as a cathartic journey for him makes a slice of outstanding theatre for us.
The Shark is Broken runs at Malvern Theatres until Saturday, February 1. Click here for times, tickets and more information.
