Review: THE SHARK IS BROKEN at The Warwick Theatre

“The Shark Is Broken” is a fascinating invite into a hidden world that informs us how the sausage gets made when it comes to mega-hit films. This play snickers as three famous actors suffer “slings and arrows” while Bruce, a damned mechanical shark, turns turtle repeatedly during the filming of “Jaws” off Martha’s Vineyard in 1974.  The result is simultaneously funny, scary, and oddly touching. 

This requires a further (hehehe) fleshing out of the situation. I will share it in bite sizes. Three famous actors are stuck on the fake shark-hunter Orca floating among an armada of other vessels unsuccessfully making sausage.  A mechanical shark (Bruce) designed in a Californian swimming pool hates the real ocean.  A 55-day shooting schedule has ballooned to more than 150 days. Everybody is on everybody’s last tenuous nerve.

Imagine standing in an art gallery and seeing a painting where the artist depicts an artist behind an easel painting a landscape including a picture of you.   You wonder if someone behind you is seeing the same scene, but once removed and so on.  Well, that’s the setup and you get the (hehehe) picture. 

But wait… there is more! The film they make becomes immortal. Two of the three actors are not. It is fifty years on, but two of the three have passed on. Quint, the irascible alcoholic shark hunter, is played by classical British actor and alcoholic Robert Shaw.  Shaw died about two years later at age 51 of a heart attack.  The playwright is Robert Shaw’s son Ian.   

Roy Scheider who plays Chief Brody (the film’s reliable center) passed away in 2008 of cancer. 

The sole survivor is Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper, the marine biologist.  Richard Dreyfuss has not been happy with his portrayal or been consulted by the playwrights on the “Jaws” experience. Dreyfuss has enjoyed a long and successful career as a mostly droll, comedic, and often neurotic character actor. He remains on most people’s “A” list

Unsurprisingly, the story is told through the lens of Robert Shaw’s son, Ian and his collaborator Joseph Nixon. Nixon has been a reliable British comedy writer.

Ian Shaw has been a known working character actor in the UK. Ian Shaw was a small child in 1974 and present for at least part of the filming. The play is influenced by a small red book (still private) found in Robert Shaw’s papers called his “drinking diary.” Ian has a remarkable resemblance to his famous father.

After successful runs at the Edinburgh Scotland Fringe Festival in 2019, then on London’s West End, and finally on to Broadway in the fall of 2023. Each iteration of the play has been lengthened by about ten minutes or so.

OK, lets get to the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre (MET) production of “The Shark Is Broken” at the Warwick Theatre.

 MET is excited to be producing this first ever Kansas City run of “The Shark Is Broken" and the excitement shows.  The set (built by Michael Connelly) is incredible.  The Orca was built mainly in Connelly’s home workshop and designed to break down for transport. It was designed to give the director Todd Schnake maximum spaces to block the action. Believe me when I say “They are not going to need a bigger boat.”  I couldn't help but flash on NCIS's LeRoy Jethro Gibbs who is forever building a boat in his basement.

All three actors have a general resemblance to the original players without being dead ringers. Davis DeRock (Roy Scheider), Dane Schnake (Richard Dreyfus), and Michael Dragen (Robert Shaw) are basically academics.  It is obvious to see their backgrounds and how seriously they took their roles.  Director Todd Schnake is also a former academic. 

The result may be a more multi-layered and darker psychological portrayal than the playwrights may have originally envisioned.  While the laughs remain, the approach taken more deeply examines the people and adds action to the original.

Every so often in the rehearsal and preparation process of a new regional play, the actors, directors, and technical staff do deep dives into their characters. Back stories surface with a result that would surprise the playwrights and the people who actually lived the experience.

“The Shark Is Broken” is certainly worth seeing and deciding what you think of how the sausage was made.  You will still be terrified of Bruce the shark. I promise.  the portrayals by these four pros will offer you a new lens through which to see these people and the characters in a favorite film.

I was privileged to also see a talkback after the show.  I was impressed with how nice the three actors and their director (Todd Schnake) seemed and how seriously each took their work.  If you get the chance to see a talk back performance, I recommend it.  It adds to the perforrnance.  This show was originally a Fringe Festival project in Edinburgh Scotland.  The main show is performed as a 100 minute one act.

“The Shark Is Broken” continues at the newly refurbished Warwick Theatre through August 23.   Tickets are available at www.METKC.org. 

Photos by Manon Halliburton.

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