"The Shark Is Broken" by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Back in 1975, a film was released that made holiday makers think twice about swimming in the sea. "Jaws" was released on the film going public with the tagline "You'll never go in the water again" and terrorised everybody. Can it really be fifty years since this film was released?

I was twelve years old and can remember sitting in the cinema, with my parents, and one scene gave me nightmares; the one where they are underwater and the scene shows a porthole, when suddenly a detached head floated across the porthole - God, I can remember jumping out of my skin! But I absolutely loved the film with its' incredibly realistic white shark, nicknamed "Bruce", - the only film in the franchise where Jaws actually looked realistic, in my humble opinion!

The film was based on the 1974 novel by Peter Benchley, which is also mentioned, not in a very favourable way in the script. There are several references to cinematic and television output from that era, also not lauded about that have since been talked about favourably since the 1970's, which all adds to the wonderful comedy surrounding this play. Shaw also says near the end about the likelihood of people talking about the film they are making, fifty years on. Well, here we are, still talking warmly about this legendary piece of celluloid.

So what is "The Shark Is Broken" all about then?

FADE IN: The open ocean, 1974. Filming is delayed…again. The lead actors – theatre veteran Robert Shaw and young Hollywood hotshots Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider – are crammed into a too-small boat, The Orca, entirely at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical co-star. Alcohol flows, egos collide, and tempers flare on a chaotic voyage that just might lead to cinematic magic…if it doesn’t sink them all.

The stage play takes a look behind the scenes of making this iconic shark movie, in fact the best shark movie ever, again just my opinion. It's a mix of comedy and insightful, of the period, comments that went into making the film that you probably wouldn't get from anywhere else. 

I love autobiographies and biographies, and basically being nosey about celebrity. Books that tell you about the person and their life behind their celebrity, so this play was right up my street. I love the banter behind the actors' filming and characters; you get to find out what they were like in that snapshot of time. 

Ian Shaw stars as his father, Robert Shaw, and you really have to look twice because Ian is the spitting image of his dad. Robert Shaw played the role of the shark hunter, Quint. Ian gets to deliver some wonderful comic lines. It's like watching Robert Shaw on stage, but let's face it, who else is going to do this marvellous actor justice if not his son. There's a lot of tongue in cheek comedy within the script and there's a lovely line about Robert Shaw's nine kids and if any of them are interested in acting, and the reply that comes from that. 

I never knew that Robert Shaw was a massive fan of stage work, but then again, at the time I was not even a teenager when the film was released and my interest in theatre a long way off, but this play made me wish that I could have seen this great actor on stage, just because of the love for the art that is shown in "The Shark Is Broken" by the character.

Dan Fredenburgh as Roy Scheider, the police chief Martin Brody of Amity Island, where the great white shark is terrorising Amity's residents and the holiday makers thereof. Brody is the man who has that memorable line from the film, "You're gonna need a bigger boat.", a line that is mentioned in the play and received a loud acknowledgement for doing so. Another wonderful line came from Scheider when, near the end, the character said that if a sequel of "Jaws" were made, he wouldn't be in it. Now, let me just check the cast again on IMDB......

Ellie Collyer-Bristow, the Casting Director, could not have done a better job of casting because all three were visually and aurally unmistakeable in their characters.

Ashley Margolis as Richard Dreyfuss, the scientist and Medical Examiner Matt Hooper. Dreyfuss was always looking to be a "star", and having featured in the two previous films, "American Graffiti" and "The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz", he was hoping that "Jaws" was going to break him as the star that he wanted to be. There's a lot of comedy written in "Shark" for Dreyfuss, and shows the man as a drug loving, skirt chasing, fame hungry actor who wanted to be taken more seriously, asking Shaw to connect him with Harold Pinter for a more serious role in the theatre.

Near the end of the filming for "Jaws", the three man talk about what's next for them, and I love how all three downplayed their next roles and the expectations for the success of their films. Another brilliant example of the tongue in cheek writing ability of the authors. At the time who would have thought "Close Encounters" and "Jurassic Park" would have been such enormous hits for the "Jaws" Director, Steven Spielberg. 

Directed by Guy Masterson, the thought of watching just three actors on stage for ninety five minutes without an interval, without any scene changes, chatting about the film that they were making, how they passed their time, and their opinions of each other and the production team for the 1975 film, who we don't see, initially didn't sound that attention holding. How wrong I was because this is one of the best new pieces of theatre to come along and I could have watched an even longer version of this play. 

Masterson's fly on the cabin wall approach is superb, and there was always something happening on stage, even when the feel between the three original actors gave the idea of long-drawn-out periods in between shoots with nothing to do but chat or play games like shove ha'penny, while the "shark" was being fixed so that filming could continue. That, by the way explains where the title of the play comes from, just in case you wondered.

Duncan Henderson's set design takes us to Martha's Vineyard, where the film was made. Everything takes place in the cross section cabin of the fishing boat with a video design backdrop by Nina Dunn showing the ocean and the sky. Very atmospheric.

Lighting design is by Jon Clark and sound design, as well as all of the original music you hear throughout, is by Adam Cork. The play opens though with a reminder of that menacing theme.

The play runs straight though for ninety five minutes without interval, and why would you want to interrupt such a magnetic story with an interval? 

For anyone who is old enough to remember seeing the film when it first came out, or likes pieces of theatre with a difference, then this is one for you.

"The Shark Is Broken" is making waves at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 1 March.