The Shark Is Broken review: Jaws takes a bite out of Broadway

Forget about the shark. It turns out the most dangerous thing about Jaws was all the unresolved daddy issues. At least that's the big takeaway from The Shark Is Broken, a clever behind-the-scenes comedy now playing at the Golden Theater on Broadway.

The play essentially tells the tale of three men stuck on a boat. But these aren't just any three ordinary men. And this is no ordinary boat. All of the action takes place on the world's most famous lobster vessel, the Orca, as actors Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw wait out filming delays on Jaws due to malfunctioning mechanical sharks.

Matthew Murphy Colin Donnell, Alex Brightman, and Ian Shaw in 'The Shark Is Broken'

They're an odd bunch, these three. Dreyfuss, all neurotic paranoia. Shaw, the domineering Alpha. And Scheider, the calming influence trying to keep the other two from killing each other. (In Spinal Tap parlance, Scheider acts as Derek Smalls' lukewarm water to Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbins' fire and ice.) But as different as the three may seem, there is a connective tissue in the form of childhood trauma. Scheider recalls being regularly beaten by his pop, Dreyfuss informs the others how his dad didn't want him to be an actor and eventually abandoned the family, and Shaw is still coming to terms with an alcoholic father who killed himself when the actor was only 12.

The fact that Robert Shaw is being played by his son Ian — who also cowrote the play with Joseph Nixon — adds a layer of personal struggle and insight that brings the audience almost uncomfortably close to the plight of both character and actor. To see The Shark Is Broken is to see Ian Shaw coming to terms on stage with his own dark family history. Robert's own alcoholism is front and center, played for both laughs as well as something deeper and darker. And to watch the younger Shaw seamlessly step into not just the character, but his own father's sometimes unflattering past adds another fascinating dimension to the audience experience — especially when he finally nails the film's famous U.S.S. Indianapolis speech.

Matthew Murphy Ian Shaw in 'The Shark Is Broken'

But The Shark Is Broken — directed by Guy Masterson — is far from a maudlin experience. There are also laughs aplenty as the three argue about their billing on the movie poster, discuss the relationship between golf and sperm, break into impromptu song, and engage in all manner of games and bets to pass the time. Those moments ground the characters and work better than when the script goes for the low hanging fruit of actors from the 1970s commenting on the idiocy of sequels (Jaws would have three of them), and how ridiculous it would be to make a movie about outer space (Close Encounters, anyone?) or dinosaurs (hello, Jurassic Park!) Easy jokes like these may get some of the biggest laughs in the room, but feel a bit cheap and take away from the interplay between the characters.

In addition to Shaw's mesmerizing turn as his father, Alex Brightman (School of Rock, Beetlejuice) completely nails Dreyfuss' high-strung Energizer Bunny antics. Brightman has always been gifted in the art of physical comedy, and he uses every inch of the boat here as he prances, paces, and convulses his way around the stage. As Scheider, Colin Donnell (Anything Goes) has no freak flag to fly. His job is to act as the stoic, steadying presence between the two polar opposites, and Donnell wisely sacrifices flash to play the sun-obsessed straight man that keeps the entire thing from devolving into complete chaos — the only exception being a momentary descent into a Speedo-induced rage that feels a bit forced.

Matthew Murphy Colin Donnell and Alex Brightman in 'The Shark is Broken'

Of course, there is a fourth star in all of this: the boat itself. The recreation of the Orca manages to feel grand and claustrophobic at the same time thanks to the set design by Duncan Henderson, with assistance from waves projected underneath the ship and a background video screen of sky and ocean. (Nina Dunn did the video design and Jon Clark the lighting.)

It should be noted that outside of one shot of an approaching fin on the video screen to open the show, you never actually see the shark. But then again, that's kind of the point. And while for the characters themselves, being stuck on the boat is presented as some form of intolerable torture — for audiences, it's definitely a wild ride worth taking. Grade: B+

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