A boat, a malfunctioning shark and a load of laughs

As smash hit comedy The Shark is Broken sets out on a UK tour, which will be visiting Newcastle Theatre Royal (Tue 18 – Sat 22 Mar), co-writer Ian Shaw reveals why he wanted to write a play about the troubled making of Jaws, and what it’s like to play his dad, legendary actor Robert Shaw.

When Jaws hit cinemas in the summer of 1975, it was a blockbuster success unlike anything the film industry had seen. Its behind-the-scenes drama has become the stuff of similar legend: mechanical sharks broke down, boats sank, actors argued fiercely, and the script changed day by day.

The Shark is Broken, which embarks on a UK tour after smash runs in the West End and on Broadway, is set in those long, tense gaps between filming. It focuses on the relationships between the film’s three lead actors, Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw who found themselves stuck on a small boat called the Orca for 16 weeks with little to do except drive each other crazy.

The play’s co-writer Ian Shaw stars as his father Robert. “I’d spent my life trying not to be associated with my dad, as most children of famous people tend to do,” says Shaw. “You want to carve your own path, so I was wary of that. But I’m obsessed with films, and I’m obsessed with the story of filmmaking. I just imagined three men stuck on this boat, marooned out in the water. Something about that idea appealed to me. I’ve reached a point now where I guess the comparison with my dad doesn’tmatter so much. I’m also at the same age as my dad when he was doing Jaws.”

Almost as soon as he started thinking about the idea, Ian lost faith. “I thought it might be in poor taste to play my father and to portray him like that, so I put it in a drawer. It wasn’t until a while later that I had a pint with a friend who thought it was a good idea, so I looked at it again. My wife and family all thought it was interesting. So, I decided that I should take the risk.”

The Shark is Broken opened at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019 and was met by glowing reviews, leading to both a West End and Broadway run in quick succession. Now the production is embarking on a UK tour, and Ian is getting ready once again to don the moustache and cap that bring out the striking resemblance to his father. “It’s a funny thing, being there in the dressing room and looking in the mirror before I go on, doing a bit of the famous Indianapolis speech from the film that my late father helped to write, just to make sure that I feel in character.

I’m not somebody who believes in spiritual things very much, but there’s definitely a dialogue between me and my dad before I go on stage. It’s not like anything I’ve ever done in my life before.”

The Shark is Broken plays Newcastle Theatre Royal Tue 18 – Sat 22 Mar 2025.

Tickets can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 0191 232 7010.