The Shark Is Broken Photo by Manuel Harlan

They say they don’t make ’em like they used to, and when it comes to the film Jaws, they’re absolutely right. As a lover of 80’s films, and having watched Jaws several times over the years, I was more than intrigued when I caught an interview with the writer, Ian Shaw on TV talking about the play. Shaw is the son of the actor Robert Shaw who played Quint, if you remember he owned the boat that the trio went out on to kill the shark.

The play is set entirely aboard that boat and outlines the relationship between the three men who were stranded on the boat for several days whilst the shark was being fixed. In the film, the shark should have featured more than it did but as we learn from the play, it was dogged with malfunctions which delayed filming and meant the actors were redundant for days on end, waiting for them to fix him.

From the initial stage entrance of “Roy Scheider” you’re hooked because each actor more than resembles the actors they’re playing, not only did they look like them but the mannerisms are spot on.

The story centres on the strained relationship of the older more experienced Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss, the wide-eyed younger ambitious actor, with Dreyfuss frequently finding himself the butt of Shaw’s humour with Scheider playing the part of peacekeeper.

They shared conversations had which made us laugh often, and a few interjections from Spielberg and a few in-jokes for us to enjoy.

They recreated the now iconic scene on board to perfection, with the monologue, originally  performed by Shaw senior now performed on stage, by his son. It was quite something to see and you leave feeling you’ve witnessed something very special.

The theatre was sold out and they actors soaked up their well deserved standing ovation.