Play: 'The Shark Is Broken'

As the West End and theatre in general reopened following the pandemic lockdown, among big name musical arrivals, such as Back to the Future, and the popular usual suspects, such as The Cursed Child, a unique and particularly relevant 90-minute play settles in at the Ambassadors Theatre: The Shark is Broken.

Following success at Edinburgh Fringe, The Shark is Broken follows the long and frustrating shoot of 70s blockbuster film Jaws, focusing on the 3 main actors; Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss, and what you might attribute to their own lockdown period of confinement in an onset fishing vessel.

I can’t recall exactly where I found out about this play, but apart from the obvious attraction of watching a play based on one of the most perfectly executed films of all time, there is a key element of which the play was conceived: Robert Shaw’s son Ian Shaw, who co-wrote the play, portraying the aforementioned actor.

Not only would the play be showcasing a famously fraught film shoot between 3 actors, notably between Shaw and Dreyfuss, but someone closely connected was putting this idea into motion and taking on the no doubt challenging role of embodying his own father.

And embody he did. After about 10 minutes into the show, a faint gasp can be heard amongst the audience when they see what they believe is the ghost of Robert Shaw making his first appearance on the stage. Ian’s likeness in his face is uncanny, as is his voice and portrayal. Ian has taken on a role that requires him to be honest, but sensitive about his father. He reveals personal details, such as Robert’s father’s suicide and his own alcoholism, but portrays him as intelligent and having a deep love of writing (more so than acting).

Liam Murray Scott plays Richard Dreyfuss. First on stage, his profanity laden role conveys a young, ambitious, slightly naïve actor. Liam nails the voice and mannerisms of the Dreyfuss we are familiar with in Jaws.

Demitris Goritsas playing Roy Scheider, embodies what appears to be a dullard of a character in comparison, with no actual animosity towards anyone and a bad habit of talking about interesting, though mundane facts; but he is crucial in acting as mediator between two different ends of the personality spectrum that is Shaw and Dreyfuss. He also has some of the more memorable lines, alluding to never signing on to a sequel of the film should it ever even possibly come to fruition, or answering Shaw’s question about what would happen should he mix two different types of alcohol, with the simple response: “Trouble”.

In anticipation of the play, I made up an idea of what to expect based only on film lore. Part of me was cautious, as the reality of something fictional you cherish could have potentially been marred by watching actors scream, fight and project animosity towards one another. In my eyes, Shaw and Dreyfuss hated each other and that was that. What more could this play have to work with? Yet it turned out to be completely different to what I was expecting. Not only was it an old story able to encapsulate the present-day zeitgeist from politics, to art, to movie going, but here you had a perfect real-life story being portrayed about an oddly perfect clash of personalities finding common ground. The play had its tough going moments, not just showcasing Shaw’s reliance on drink, but each actor relaying their family history and upbringing, a lot of which abuse played a notable role, as well as Dreyfuss’ penchant for cocaine and unrelenting anxiety about his talent. You had actors in varying stages of their lives and careers, working and practically living together in close proximity, with limited entertainment, partaking in tedious games, reaching the cusp of physical violence and spilling their guts to one another. All of this, however, was nicely sown together with a highly comical script. You didn’t leave feeling hopeless, or as if your fond memories of viewing a near perfect film had been destroyed by the reality of it all, and though not everything wrapped up perfectly for these actors, at least the shark finally started working, bringing an end to a gruelling, but no doubt momentous period of their lives.