‘The Shark is Broken’: Insider comedy a delight

‘THE SHARK IS BROKEN’: (left to right) Colin Donnell, Ian Shaw & Alex Brightman. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

THE SHARK IS BROKEN
Written by Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon
Directed by Guy Masterson
Through November 19, 2023
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.thesharkisbroken.com

By David NouNou

You don’t have to be a film aficionado or a movie buff to enjoy the thoroughly delightful and entertaining comedy The Shark Is Broken. It is so concise in its writing that it immediately immerses one in the narrative.

I will say that it helps if you have seen the 1975 mega blockbuster Jaws at least once to fully appreciate the brilliance and simplicity that unfolds in this 90-minute show. The time is 1974, during the filming of the movie Jaws. It is set on the boat the Orca on the open ocean east of Martha’s Vineyard. It consists of the three leads: Robert Shaw playing Quint (Ian Shaw) owner of the Orca, Roy Scheider playing Police Chief Martin Brody (Colin Donnell) ,pursuing the shark; and Richard Dreyfuss playing Matt Hooper (Alex Brightman) trying to capture the shark.

The action takes place in the cabin of the Orca on a particular scene where Quint retells the tale of him being in the navy in World War II where his boat sank and 1,100 men were thrown into the sea, forming a link together to ward off the sharks that left only 316 survivors. If one is familiar with that one scene in the movie, it makes the narrative much easier to follow. Because that is the final scene of the movie that has to be filmed.

This scene is one aspect of the play; the rest is about the shark’s mechanical problems breaking down and these three actors wait for weeks until the shark is in working condition. During this interim, they question their acting abilities, their talents, their excess drinking, whether the movie be a success or a dud, and what possible projects they may have lined up after this picture is done. Naturally, there is the conflict of the older actors having to deal with temperaments and insecurities of the youngest.

Within a few minutes you are sucked into the plot due to the exact resemblances and the brilliant performances of the three actors, alphabetically: Alex Brightman, Colin Donnell, and Ian Shaw. Ian Shaw co-wrote the play and is the son of actor Robert Shaw; his resemblance to his father is uncanny. You’d swear Robert Shaw was up on the stage. Ian Shaw delivers a sterling performance with all the gruffness, steeliness, and alcohol imbibing his father possessed.

Colin Donnell beautifully underplays Roy Scheider with no drama or histrionics. In all the movies or shows that I’ve seen Mr. Scheider in, he is always low-keyed, level-headed, and evenly centered. Mr. Donnell captures all that as wells as Mr. Scheider’s cool good looks and plays the mediator between his two hot-headed co-stars.

Alex Brightman is a force of nature. If you saw him in the musicals Beetlejuice and School of Rock, he took two iconic movie roles played by Michael Keaton and Jack Black and recreated them in his own vision. To watch him play Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper is like sitting in a  master class of acting. He has captured every laugh, twitch, tic, hysteria, mannerism, self-effacement that Mr. Dreyfuss himself would be wowed by seeing his younger self again.

To add authenticity to the proceedings, one must mention the gorgeous ocean visual designs by Nina Dunn for Pixellux, the hued lighting by Jon Clark, and one can’t leave out the boat, the Orca designed by Duncan Henderson.

If you enjoyed Jaws or any movie and wondered what happened behind the scenes during filming, The Shark Is Broken is a definitive play to answer your questions about the different things can go wrong on a set or the fragility of egos of your favorite actors during filming, before a movie reaches the screen and becomes a blockbuster.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published August 13, 2023
Reviewed at August 11, 2023 press performance.

‘THE SHARK IS BROKEN’: (left to right) Alex Brightman, Ian Shaw & Colin Donnell. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘THE SHARK IS BROKEN’: (left to right) Colin Donnell & Alex Brightman. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘THE SHARK IS BROKEN’: (left to right) Colin Donnell, Alex Brightman & Ian Shaw. Photo: Matthew Murphy.