Jaws' infamous production history takes centre stage in THE SHARK IS BROKEN

September 2nd 7:30 pm 2026 Foundry Theatre.

StoreyBoard Entertainment with director Luke Joslin brings THE SHARK IS BROKEN to The Foundry Theatre.

Jaws was the blockbuster movie of 1975. Becoming famous for making the shark species an enemy to fear, increasing actors' popularity, and the folklore surrounding its troubled shoot. Filmmakers and keen audience members learnt that a malfunctioning shark drove Spielberg to make a movie that uses and perfects the horror of an unseen predator.

The budget doubled to $9million and the shooting schedule tripled to 155 days. This is partly due to Spielberg's choice of shooting on location — the ocean — which also caused the shark's constant malfunctions. For the three stars, the extended time, mostly spent waiting around, became an unplanned rehearsal workshop where they developed their working relationship. But it wasn't all roses, as Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss clashed, which of course gave substance to Quint and Hooper, their onscreen characters.

THE SHARK IS BROKEN explores the history and folklore of this famous movie to create the scenario of three actors stuck on a boat with nothing to do but drink, argue, rehearse, philosophise and wait as THE SHARK IS BROKEN.

Shaw (Anthony Gooley), Dreyfuss (Robin Goldsworthy) and Scheider (Tom Stokes) are cooped up in the boat on the ocean waiting for Bruce, the prima donna mechanical shark. He didn't like the salty sea, and it showed — a contributing factor in his constant malfunctions. Varying levels of notoriety, experience, approach and drunkenness leads to a contentious workplace and fodder for the characters to develop and ring true.

THE SHARK IS BROKEN explores the behind-the-scenes aspect of this infamous film through the lens of the male cast on their personal ambitious journey and the competitive endeavour of the characters they play. While waiting for Bruce to perform they lament their careers through cautious perspectives, they choose to play competitive coin games and ponder on life.

The storyline is a mixture of known history and dramatic licence — some choices align with the movie and others take some liberty. They don't have the licence for the music; they have a clever replacement, but it takes the shine off the Jaws essence. The actors are well chosen for the resemblances. Stokes has the look and is well settled into the demeanour of Scheider/Brody. Goldsworthy nails the voice and channels Dreyfuss's chaos — if his portrayal is accurate, I can see why Shaw was ruffled. Gooley has the look and forceful, commanding presence of Shaw, although the voice is a little refined for the hyper-masculine Shaw.

The cast worked together beautifully, enticing us into the world of this eventful major studio shoot. James Browne's set has an impressive stature with a high-res screen delivering that location ocean setting. In front is constructed the boat's cabin and the on-set equipment. This clever design lets the audience see the film set environment, then draws them into the intimacy of the movie scenes themselves.

The poster campaign claims "a jaw dropping comedy"; the person next to us upon arrival sat saying "I am already laughing."

This wasn't the experience for me and the audience. The laughs were few and far between, and when the characters explore relationships with their fathers, with topics of suicide, I realised my expectations were wrong. The night recalls infamous incidents from the making of Jaws to explore topics of male ego and insecurity, masculinity, ageing, fatherhood and the anxiety of an acting career.

If you are a fan of the movie, you may have more insight into Shaw's drunkenness on set and his talent as a writer. These ingredients led to one of the infamous fan stories. The Indianapolis speech is Shaw's chance to shine, when his character tells the true story of a real shark attack. He asked Spielberg for a drink to stay in character, but became so drunk they couldn't get any usable footage. He was so mortified that the next day he turned up sober and did the speech in one take.

This storyline is part of THE SHARK IS BROKEN, where Shaw's character attempts the scene, and at the finale of this play, Gooley performs the speech in one attempt. I pondered this — recreating the history is important, but Gooley doing his job as an actor is not fodder for a monumental ending.

Just before this final scene, the script and the cast finally got into the groove where the drama and the humour sparked. Gooley bouncing off Goldsworthy delivered a sarcastic and insightful line to great hilarity. Was the first three-quarters of the night relegated to the story unfolding, or had the cast missed setting the tone for the night to strike the funny bone more often?

Film fans will have a good night out watching their favourite actors resurrected, drink in hand and egos on show, facts, fiction, comedy and drama tangled up together.

Photo @ David Hooley

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